Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Peter

To stop the Multiverse from collapsing in on itself Peter had to make a choice. It wasn’t even really a choice. There was only one answer that Peter could have given. 

“Send me away,” Peter says. He is standing on the Statue of Liberty watching as Doctor Strange attempts to hold the universe together. His friends are down below him, injured because of him. In danger because of him, because he made the wrong choice. He won’t do that this time. He won’t make the wrong choice again. Not with them on the line. Not after Aunt May spent so much time trying to make the city a better place, the world a better place. Not after his choices cost Aunt May her life, cost Uncle Ben his life. Not after his failure on Titan cost so many lives. 

“If I do that then it has to be somewhere that you have never existed. Somewhere that no one has ever heard the name Peter Parker or Spider-man.” There’s a sort of desperation in Doctor Strange’s voice. Because he knows, he knows the way that Peter does. As long as Peter Parker continues to exist on this earth the cracks will not stop. Peter’s existence is causing the breaks and so he needs to be taken out of it. He needs to be removed fully. 

“It’s Okay Mister Docter Strange,” Peter jumps up to stand on the same level as the sorcerer. “It’s okay. Send me away.” 

“Damn it. Damn it all.” Strange curses as the lights around his hands flicker. “There isn’t much time. Say your goodbyes.” 

“Right,” Peter jumps down to where Ned and MJ are waiting for him. Ned and MJ, who have been there for him through so much. Ned who’s been his best friend for as long as Peter can remember, who has always been by his side. MJ, who taught him so much, how to be confident. How to stand up for himself. 

“What’s happening?” Ned asks, his eyes darting nervously between Peter and the tears in the sky. Peter scans his eyes over them, taking in their appearances, cataloging every speck of dirt and sweat, and injury. His eyes linger on the cut on MJ’s forehead. His mind keeps playing the scene of her fall over and over again. 

“Doctor Strange has a way to stop this. He can fix it.” 

“What’s the catch?” MJ asks, straightforward as always. 

“I have to leave, go to another universe. The spell is pulling all these people here because of me and it’s going to keep happening as long as I’m here. So I have to go, to a universe where Peter Parker doesn’t exist so that Doctor Strange can stabilize this one.”

“And then you can come back?” Ned asks. Peter doesn’t know. If Multiversal travel is possible through magic then who’s to say that it isn’t also possible through science? If Peter had the right tools, if he could find the right resources, who’s to say that he couldn’t bring himself back? But how would he know when it was safe? How would he know that he could return without starting this all over again? And if he does come back then what happens next? Because in order to stabilize this reality Peter has to no longer exist in it. He has to be completely erased from everyone's memories. Every record of him having ever existed will just be gone. 

“And then I can come back.” Peter lies. Ned lets out a breath, his shoulders slumping. MJ reaches out and takes hold of Peter’s wrist in a tight grip. 

“You will come back,” MJ says somewhere between a demand and a question. Peter pulls both of them into a tight hug, being careful not to crush them too hard. He feels their arms wrap around him as well. He smells the salt of their tears mixing with the smell of sweat and blood and underneath it all their familiar scents. The smell of home, and the sound of their hearts beating pound in his ears. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Peter tells them. “It’s all going to be okay now. You guys will be safe. I’ll make sure Doctor Strange gets you home safe,” It takes everything in him to pull away. To free himself from their holds. He backs away from them as everything in him begs him to stay, to never let go of them. He thinks of Aunt May, of her words. With great power comes responsibility. And his responsibility is to keep the people he loves safe. To keep his mistakes from ruining so many lives. “I love you guys,” Peter says and then turns away and jumps back up the scaffolding to where Strange waits for him. 

“It’s time,” Peter says. “I’m ready.” 

“Are you sure about this Spider-man?” Strange asks. 

“Yes, I’m ready Doctor Strange.” 

“Stephen. You can call me Stephen.” 

“Okay… Stephen.” 

“Mm no still weird,” Strange’s hands move in a different way from before and a duffle bag falls to the ground in front of Peter’s feet. He recognizes the bag from Happy’s apartment. It’s the one he’d brought with him when they’d had to vacate their own home. Now stuffed full to near bursting “I got what I could but without my full focus I don’t know what might have been missed.” 

“Thats… That’s okay.” Peter says as he picks up the bag and slings it over his neck. It’s more than he expected at all. 

“Take care of yourself, Peter.” A ring of glowing orange lights filled with symbols appears beneath Peter’s feet. Peter takes a deep breath and then pulls his mask back on as he braces himself for what is going to come next. 

“I will.” The ring glows brighter and brighter and then everything is gone, Peter is falling. 

Peter remembers dying. He remembers feeling himself being ripped apart, as his healing factor has struggled against it. He remembers the feeling of laying in Tony’s arms as he turned to dust. This feels almost the same. He falls and falls as something rips at him. Bright lights flash by him, and when Peter tries to focus on them it’s almost like he can see through them. See flashes of places and people that he’s never met. He wonders briefly if this is his fate. If somehow Doctor Strange’s spell had gone wrong. If he was somehow now trapped in this place between the universes. Forced to exist everywhere at once and never at all. Then he feels the tug, right in the center of his chest like something has grabbed onto him and suddenly he’s being pulled towards one of those balls of light, faster and faster. He grips the strap of his duffle bag tightly with one hand and braces himself. 

Through the light, he can see a city, dark and dreary with a light shined onto the smog-filled sky above it. Peter brings an arm up to cover his face as he feels himself crash through the light. He finds himself in the sky, falling fast. Too fast. He’s barely able to tell the sky from the ground as he tries to orient himself. How much web fluid is left after the fight? He straightens himself out and holds his arms up trying to slow himself down and wishing that he still had the parachute or the gliders of the iron spider suit. He tries to aim himself towards one of the tallest buildings. He’ll need the height if he’s going to keep his swing from like ripping his arms off or something. His healing factor is good but he doesn’t want to test if it's good enough to grow his limbs back. 

As the building comes close enough he shoots out his webs to attach to the spire at the top of the building. It takes a few loops around it but he slows to a speed he’s more comfortable with and immediately shoots out another web moving from the building as fast as he can. He has no idea what kind of world he’s come into, he doesn’t know where he is or what the environment is right. He definitely has no idea how they feel about mutates or superheroes and he’s not about to get caught this quickly. Who knows who’d seen him fall from the sky like that.  

The city around him is like nothing he’s ever seen. Weirdly desolate looking gothic architecture and everything is so dark and dreary. Peter can hear gunfire and the air is filled with gunpowder and blood. As much as he wants to keep swinging, to keep moving. But he needs to stop and take stock of his supplies. He doesn’t know how much web fluid he’s got left and he needs to be careful until he can find a new lab to make more. 

It doesn’t take long for him to find a part of town that seems to be less populated. He can hear the sounds of people but not a single one seems to be on the streets. There’s a large building on one of the blocks, an old theater or something. Peter lands on the side of the building and quickly climbs inside through a broken window. He drops himself to the ground and takes deep breaths as he tries to calm his racing heart. 

He’s in a new universe. An entirely new world where Peter Parker has never existed before. Peter has no idea what or where he’s just gotten himself. He has no idea what differences this world will have to his own. Is science different? Language? Will he even look like the rest of the people here? God, he’s supposed to be smart, how could he have just gone into this without really thinking things through? Did Doctor Strange pick a world that he fit into or did he just pick the first one that didn’t have a Peter Parker? 

“Okay. Okay, You’ve got this Spider-man,” he says as he gets back on his feet. He adjusts the duffle bag to sit more comfortably as he moves further into the building, stretching out his senses to listen for any signs of life in the building with him. Besides some rats and bugs he doesn’t hear anything. He keeps quiet as he moves anyway. The window he had climbed through had led to some sort of back room with only one door. Beyond that is a long hallway with archways leading to boxes that overlook the main auditorium. The whole place is huge with rows upon rows of seats, mostly broken, the fabric eaten away by time and probably animals. The stage at the front of the room is cast in shadows, old curtains hanging it tatters. Dust and cobwebs cover every single surface and something about the place leaves Peter with a weird feeling, a low hum of his spider-sense, not danger particularly but like the building itself is watching. It’s a little bit freaky if Peter’s honest with himself but the place is thoroughly abandoned and doesn’t seem to have the signs of vandalism like so many of the other places he passed. 

Even before the spider bite had changed him Peter had always enjoyed heights. With the spider DNA mixed into him now, he almost feels more grounded when he’s up high. He settles into the highest level of the mezzanine now. In a box where most of the seats have been ripped from the ground and tossed into a corner. He crouches down and unzips his bag to see what had survived the destruction enough for Doctor Strange to consider it worth bringing. 

The bag holds a pretty good amount of the clothes he’d brought to Happy’s with him, so he’ll have at least a few changes. They’re a little dirty and Peter is pretty sure he spots little pieces of glass but that shouldn’t be too hard to take care of once he gets his bearings and finds a laundromat he can use. There are a few of his notebooks in it as well, Peter’s not sure they’ll be much practical use in this new world but it is nice to have them. He’ll be able to compare some of his notes to how things are in this world and see if anything stands out as different. There’s also his still nearly full bottle of painkillers, the special ones that Doctor Cho and Doctor Banner had created to work with his increased metabolism. He wishes that he had some of the nasty nutrition bars too but he’d already gone through those while hiding out in the apartment with Aunt May and trying not to get caught by the reporters or the general public. He hadn’t wanted to make May go out to get their groceries on her own. 

Peter stops when he reaches the bottom of the bag and finds his phone and his Starkwatch. It’s not something he’s worn much since losing Tony, but he’d made sure that it was hidden away when Damage Control had come to collect his Stark tech. He pulls it onto his wrist now and watches as it tightens to fit before the screen lights up. He can feel his heart racing as he stares down at it, remembering now that he’s also still got the nanobots that Doc Ock had returned to him.  

“Karen?” He asks, caught between hopeful and worried. 

“Yes, Peter?” The AI repeats, her voice coming from the watch. Peter drops down to sit fully on the ground and holds his wrist against his chest. He’s not alone. He’s in a new universe but he’s not alone. Karen is with him. Even if she is just an AI, it’s still a reminder from home, a friend. 

“Are you able to function properly here?” Peter asks as he pulls the duffle bag onto his lap and checks the side pockets. 

“I am not able to detect the Stark network.” 

“No Tony here then,” Peter mumbles. He finds his wallet in one of the side pockets. There’s a bit of cash in it, only thirty dollars and some change, his transit pass, debit card, and of course the credit card Tony had insisted he carried though Peter had never used it before.  

“I am detecting several signals from other sources. Would you like me to get online?” Karen asks. 

“Only if you can do it without being detected. We don’t know where we are quite yet and I don’t want to draw attention until we get the lay of the land.” 

“Of course I can,” If Peter didn’t know better he’d say she sounded a bit offended by the implication that there was something she couldn’t do. “The technology here does not seem to be on par with what I am used to. It is much more simplistic though the most modern source comes from the satellite connected to Wayne Industries.”

“What’s Wayne Industries?” Peter gets back to his feet and brushes the dust and dirt off of his spider suit. He’ll have to clean up a bit if he wants to make this place his base of operations for the time being. 

“I am not able to give you that information until I have connected to their network.” 

“Right, okay. Go ahead and do it.” Peter pulls out some clothes from the duffle bag and gives them a good shake. He realizes as he hears the glass shards fall to the ground that he probably should have done that somewhere else but it’s too late now. He pulls off his mask and sets it aside before reaching to the button at the back of his neck to release his suit. It’s pretty cold in the theater so he moves quickly as he changes his clothes, pulling a pair of socks on last then stuffing his feet into the only pairs of shoes that had made it into the bag. He folds up his suit once he’s done and considers the golden spider on the front of it, The nanobots had been pretty close to fully charged when Doc Ock had taken them but who knows how much juice had gotten used up. He should disconnect them from the suit and find another use for them, at least for the time being. He definitely does not want to leave them sitting around anywhere that someone could potentially grab them. 

“I have fully integrated with the network of this world Peter,” Karen says. “I am downloading information now.”

“That’s great Karen. Can you still connect with the nanobots?” 

“Yes, they are responsive.” 

“I need them to be smaller. Something I can carry with me that won’t be too noticeable.” 

“May I make a suggestion?” Karen asks. 

“Go for it,” Peter zips up his duffle bag and looks around a bit before deciding to go over to the wall and hang the bag from a mostly intact wall chandelier. 

“The nanobots could be used as headphones. This will help to dampen sound when you are experiencing sensory issues and it will allow us to communicate more covertly.” 

It is a pretty sound idea when Peter considers it. He has no idea how his senses will react when he goes back out onto the streets of this world and the last thing he needs is a sensory overload when he’s in unknown territory. Plus having a constant connection to Karen will feel a lot better than doing this solo. 

“Let’s do it,” He says watching as the nanobots immediately shrink down and form into headphones. Peter slips them on over his ears and the relief is near immediate. No longer can he hear all the sounds from outside, the car alarms and gunshots and sirens are gone. Leaving behind only the sounds of the theater. Peter checks his supply of web fluid and is thankful to see that he’s still got at least a few days worth left if he’s careful. He moves to a corner of the box and sits down with his back against the wall pulling his knees up to his chest. 

“It’s getting late Peter,” Karen’s voice says gently in his ears. Peter rests his chin on his knees and closes his eyes. 

“This is where we’re staying for a while Karen,” He says to stave off her suggestions of returning home. There is no home to return to now. They’ll both just have to get used to that. 

Chapter Text

Jason

Jason remembers his death. He remembers it too well at random times throughout the day. He remembers it in his sleep. It is always there, always waiting. Tinged with green. So much is tinged with green these days. Everything blurs together. He doesn’t know what’s real and what's not. He remembers dying. He remembers the Joker and his mom and he remembers the bomb. He remembers laying on the ground, beaten and bloody, and knowing, knowing that any second Batman was going to come and save the day and knowing that his Dad was going to come and save him. Take him home where Alfred would patch him up, and Dick would let him win whatever games they played to help him forget the pain. 

Jason remembers his grave, he remembers the panic and the desperation that had given him the strength to break his way out, to dig his way through the mud and the feeling of the rain on his skin. He does not remember anything after that, not really. There are flashes, here and there. A woman tending to his wounds. An infant gripping his finger. Violence, he remembers a lot of violence. He remembers the violent green of the pit. The way it clung to him, the way it pulled him down down down. He drowned. He drowned in that pit and sometimes he thinks that he never stopped drowning. 

He came to Gotham with a plan. A hostile takeover. Enough that Bruce couldn’t ignore him. He was going to take out the replacement and make Bruce pay for failing. Pay for letting him down when he needed him the most and then moving on like nothing else had happened. The plan had been to catch Bruce alone. All of the intel that he’d gathered had said that Bruce was operating alone again. That his foolish crusade had cost another too young person too much. So Bruce was supposed to be alone. But Jason had gotten to the docks later than he’d wanted to. He’d known Bruce was on the ship, examining the boxes of weapons. Jason had set off the bomb, and then he’d watched as Bruce and Dick had pulled themselves out of the harbor. 

Dick, the brother that Jason wanted to impress more than anything. He’d tried so hard to live up to his legacy. Who despite his fight with Bruce, and the shitty way the old man had turned over the Robin mantle between them, had done his best to be there for Jason. To make him feel welcome at the manor. To make sure that he was properly trained. Jason hated himself for his weakness. He hadn’t let himself think about Dick before, or Alfred. The good parts of his life before it was taken from him. Dick was an unexpected presence and it meant that Jason had to be careful because while he had years of training with the League of Assassins now and the extra training that Talia had provided him with he knew that his brother had continued as well. Now he’d left Gotham and made a name for himself in Bludhaven and in New York with the Titans.

“God damned golden boy,” Jason curses to himself as he flees across the rooftops with the two vigilantes in pursuit. Always so in sync with each other even after all this time. There’s green tinging his vision but Jason has a mission tonight and he can’t let the rage take over. He’s got a crate full of Kryptonite to take for himself and a clown to hunt.

Sometimes time blurs for Jason. His thoughts don’t always feel like his own. Days weeks months. Who really knows? He feels like the zombie that he technically is. All he knows is that he had the clown's blood on his hands and that the Bat has been out of town. His plans are still moving smoothly. He’s taken out a good chunk of business from Black Mask and his name is getting around. His safe house has been compromised and he needs a new spot to lay low. Somewhere that no one in Gotham would think to go. 

The Gotham Opera House has been abandoned for years. Shut down after the tragic murders of the Wayne family outside its doors. Some people consider it cursed. A place where nothing but tragedy strikes. It isn’t hard for Jason to slip inside through one of the boarded-up windows. His feet crunched on the broken glass below. There’s a twinge of pain in his shoulder. He doesn’t have a clear memory of how he got it. 

It’s been years since Jason had last been in the Opera house but not much has seemed to change. Even when he was living on the streets, before Bruce had taken him in, it had been a safe place. He’d used it time and time again when he needed to hide from the less savory inhabitants of Crime Alley. He makes his way through the backstage area of the theater and out onto the stage through the remains of the curtains.

The night vision of his helmet gives the room a bit of a spooky feel and if he was anyone else he’d probably be creeped out. He makes his way to the edge of the stage and drops down to sit with his feet hanging over the orchestra pit. He reaches back to remove his helmet. 

“Oh um, Hi,” A voice calls out from above. Jason is back on his feet in seconds, his guns in his hands as he looks up for the source. 

“Who’s there?” He calls. 

“Me?” The voice says again. It sounds on the younger side, Jason finds the source in one of the boxes. A teenage boy is leaning over the railing of one of the boxes. Jason curses and lowers his guns. The last thing he expected was to find someone else stupid enough to hide out in this cursed place. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Jason puts one of his guns back in the holster and pulls out his grappling instead. 

“I uh, I was gonna sleep when I heard you.” 

“You were going to… sleep? In the definitely haunted Opera house?” 

“Oh, it’s an Opera house?” The teen asks, leaning further over the railing to look around the room. Jason doubts he can actually make anything out in the dark though. 

“Can you not fall to your death in front of me?” Jason asks. 

“What?” The teen stands up straight . “Oh, do you have night vision in your helmet? That’s cool. The glowing eyes are kinda creepy though. Don’t you scare people?” 

“Um… That’s kind of the point?” 

“Oh, it is? Are you like one of those vengeful vigilantes then? I have a friend like that.”

“Are you on drugs or something kid? I am not a vigilante.” 

“Well, Superheroes definitely shouldn’t be trying to scare people.” 

“I’m not a fucking hero either kid.” 

“Well, you’re clearly not a bad guy or you would have shot me.” 

“I’m literally the fucking Red Hood,” Jason says in exasperation. 

“I don’t know what that means,” The kid shrugs and leans over the railing again. Jason shoots his grappling up towards the box and lets it pull him up to the railing. He grabs the teen's shoulder and pushes him further back into the box. The kid takes a few steps back but the sudden movement doesn’t seem to have knocked him off balance or anything. Jason drops down into the box and crosses his arm. 

“I’m a fucking crime lord you idiot,” He tells the teen. Now that he’s up here he takes a look around the box that the kid seems to have claimed as his own. Nothing seems to have been too disturbed, so the boy couldn’t have been up here too long. Jason pulls a light stick out of one of his jacket's many pockets and turns it on before tossing it to the boy, who catches it easily despite his obvious surprise as he blinks to adjust to the light. 

The night vision turns off automatically in Jason’s helmet so he gets his bearings pretty quickly as he takes a better look at the boy in front of him. He guesses that he’s in his late teens, his clothes seem mostly clean but he’s clearly been injured pretty recently. A gash on his temple that’s probably only a couple of days old but still has dried blood around it, and the yellowing on his cheek is definitely a healing bruise. A runaway most likely then. Probably from an abusive home. There are red headphones on his ears, they look expensive just like the watch on his wrist.  

“Oh, that’s cool.” The teen says as he examines the light stick. 

“Cool?” Jason crosses his arms and leans back against the railing.

“Yeah, I mean… Not the crime part I guess. Crime isn’t cool, ya know, or drugs.” The teen puts his hands on his hips and straightens his posture. “Don’t do drugs and stay in school friends” He says in a mock deep voice. Jason is absolutely baffled by this whole situation. He’s met some weird fucking people in his time but the other teen seems completely unfazed by meeting a crime lord in a haunted Opera house. 

“Okay so you are definitely on drugs or something,” Jason decides. 

“You’re the crime lord man, I’m just a normal homeless teenager.” 

“Please, you’ve been homeless for what, one night? Two at the most?” 

“Says who?”

“Your clothes are clean and no one has stolen your rich kid shit yet.” 

“Whoa whoa whoa hold on a second I am definitely not a rich kid.” 

“You’re also not from Gotham and you haven’t been killed yet.” 

“I can hold my own thank you very much.” 

“This isn’t New York kid.”

“I’m not from New York.” he lies pointlessly in what is clearly a New York accent. Even an idiot could tell the kid is not a local. “Did you say that this is Gotham?” 

“Wait, did you not know where you are? How did you end up in the crime capital of the world and not know where you were?” 

“Um… On accident?” 

“Jesus Christ you’re going to be dead within the week.” Jason brings a hand up to run through his hair in frustration before remembering that his helmet is still on. He’d planned to make the Opera house his new base of operations til he could settle somewhere more permanently but he can’t do that with this teen hanging around. He looks closely at the teen and a sort of familiarity nagging at him. “What’s your name?” 

“You know I don’t think I’m supposed to give my name out to strangers. I’m not a kid so obviously, you’re not gonna kidnap me or anything but, well I guess I could still get kidnapped anyway. You’re a crime lord, you said so yourself, and I don’t think it's safe to give you my name.” The teen sounds like he could ramble on forever if Jason doesn’t step in. It hits him then why Peter seems familiar. His hair and eyes are the wrong color but looking at him closely Jason can almost see bits of Dick, bits of his brother, in the teen's appearance and mannerisms. 

Jason reaches back and unlatches his helmet before pulling it off and holding it under his arm. He’s still got his domino mask on but he hopes that removing the mask will help. 

“Oh,” The teen says a frown on his face. “You’re my age.” 

“I’m definitely older than you,” Jason says.

“Not by much, if at all.” 

“Look, just tell me your name. I’m a Gothamite born and raised. You look like you need help and I know some places where you can get it safely.” 

“Like a shelter?” 

“There’s some pretty okay ones. The Martha Wayne Foundation is all about helping the poor unfortunate souls or some shit.” Jason shrugs. The shelters aren’t always the best but Bruce pours enough money into them that it's at least safer than living on the streets. 

“I think I’m legally seventeen,” The teen says. “I’m not exactly looking to get on child services' radar.”

“Legally seventeen?” Jason asks. The teen watches him for a moment, eyes calculating. He seems laid back but if Jason looks close enough there’s something more to the boy, like he sees more than he says. 

“It's complicated. I mean I guess I was technically dead for a little bit and like some people did some time travel stuff and now I’m alive and like, you don’t age when you’re dead so I was born twenty-two years ago but I’m still only seventeen. Almost eighteen really so like it barely matters” He explains

“You were dead,” Jason repeats.  His eyes dart back to the boy’s hair, but there are no white streaks mixed in with the brown curls. There’s no green to his eyes. 

“Temporarily.” 

“Right…” 

“You don’t sound that shocked…. Is coming back from the dead like a thing? Because it’s a thing where I’m from. Like for a lot of people.” His head tilts just the slightest bit after he says that like he’s listening for something. 

“It’s not… common,” Jason settles on. 

“But it's not unheard of. There have been heroes that have come back to life.” The teen pauses, listening again. Jason eyes the headphones. “Green Arrow and Superman? Dude, what's up with those names? Green Arrow should just call himself Robin Hood or something. I mean come on.” Jason snorts at that, He’d said the same thing once to Oliver when Bruce had brought him to visit the watchtower. 

“How do you know about that?” 

“Oh… do… Should I not?” 

“It’s not common knowledge.” 

“Oh weird… I guess that I just heard it somewhere.” The teen shrugs and Jason is pretty sure he’s going to get a migraine from this interaction. There’s clearly something going on with this kid. His similarities to Dick can’t be coincidental and the way he casually talks about coming back to life is just, well it’s weird. The kid is weird and Jason doesn’t have the brain power to deal with all of that right now. 

“Look,” He says, dragging a hand over his face. “It’s late tonight, too late for you to be wandering the streets and the shelters won’t open their doors until morning anyway. So tonight I’ll let you stay here with me and then in the morning I’ll drop you at the shelter. Got it?” 

“You know I was technically here first so shouldn’t I be the one that gets to stay?” 

“No.” 

“I’ll tell you my name if you let me stay.” 

“I don’t need to know your name that badly.” 

“I won’t get in your way at all. I’ll stay up here in my box and you can have the whole rest of the opera house. Well, I guess I’ll also need to use the restroom too. Do you think the bathrooms still work here?” 

“Please just stop talking,” Jason snaps. The teen cuts himself off from saying anything else, pressing his lips together. He looks a bit like a kicked puppy. A bit like Dick when Jason didn’t want to go along with his schemes. Jason curses everything in his head as he takes a deep breath. There’s no green tinging his vision right now at least. “What is your name?” 

“Peter Parker,” The teen says, clearly having forgotten his earlier attempt to use it as a bargaining chip. If Jason hadn’t been trained as well he would have been startled from hearing his own middle name from this near copy of his brother. 

“You’re seventeen?” Jason asks.

“Probably yes,” Peter says with an apologetic shrug. Seventeen is definitely too old to be Dick’s kid but hadn’t he mentioned something before about time travel? 

“Where are your parents?” 

“Dead,” The answer is somewhat expected, but Peter’s voice doesn’t have much pain when he says it, so it's not recent. 

“Who’s responsible for you?” This question makes Peter seem to curl in on himself, becoming smaller, the grief visible on his face.

“No one. Not anymore. Not here.” Something recent then. 

“Alright… Then I guess you’re stuck with me until we figure something else out.” Jason hates himself for this softness, this weakness.

“Really?” Peter perks up a bit at that, a look of surprise on his face. Jason nods and moves away from the railing to drop himself onto the floor. 

“We’ll sleep in shifts,” Jason considers the teen's clothes, just a hoodie and sweatpants, and the way Peter seems to be shivering just a bit in the cold. He shrugs off his leather jacket and throws it at the kid's face. “You go first.”

“Don’t you need this?” Peter asks though he’s already pulling the jacket on. 

“Heaters in my body armor.” Jason leans back against a wall and crosses his arms. “Now go back to sleep.”

“Right yeah, okay,” He goes to the corner of the box and lays down on the floor, folding his arms to use as a pillow. Jason shifts to make himself a bit more comfortable as he settles in for a long night.

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter wakes to sore shoulders, surrounded by an unfamiliar scent. He stays still, the way Natasha always told him to when he wakes up in an unfamiliar situation, keeping his breathing steady so as not to give away that he’s awake. It takes a moment for his brain to catch up, to remember the events of the day before. Aunt May’s death, the fight with Green Goblin, Doctor Strange sending him to another universe. The supposed Crime Lord finding him in the middle of the night. Remembering his run-in with the Red Hood the night before causes him to realize that the unfamiliar scent is coming from the jacket that Peter has slept in. He listens for a moment and hears the heartbeat of the other man not far away. 

“You didn’t wake me up,” Peter says as he pushes himself to sit up and rolls his shoulders to get rid of the stiffness. Red Hood sits in the same spot he had the night before. His legs stretched out in front of him and his arms crossed. His helmet is still off, resting on the ground beside him but he never removed the domino mask on his face. 

“You looked like you needed the sleep more than I did,” Red Hood says as he gets to his feet. Peter gets the feeling that it might have more to do with not trusting Peter. He gets up off the ground now and stretches his arms above his head before leaning down to scoop his helmet off the ground. “Get dressed so we can go find some breakfast.” 

“Really?” Peter asks as he scrambles to his feet. 

“Even Crime lords need to eat,” Red Hood rolls his eyes and he sticks the helmet back on his head. Peter takes off the borrowed leather jacket and holds it out to the vigilante. He can say that he’s a criminal all he wants but Peter’s never met a crime lord who would willingly sit guard over a lonely teenager all night.

  Now that there’s light coming into the building from the holes in the ceiling he can get a better look at him. His outfit isn’t really something Peter would consider a hero suit like what he’s used to in his world. It’s much more tactical, maybe Kevlar with actual body armor built into it. There’s a red bat symbol across his chest though. He kind of reminds Peter a bit of Daredevil, though the numerous guns strapped to his body are much more Deadpool. 

“I don’t have much money,” Peter says as he takes his duffle bag down from the wall and unzips it, being careful to push his spider suit deeper down before Red Hood can catch a glimpse of it. If this guy is trying to be some sort of crime lord then he probably wouldn’t be appreciative of a vigilante living in his territory. 

“Crime lord remember,” Red Hood says, his voice coming out sounding mechanical through the voice modulator in his helmet. Even though the nanobots are dampening his hearing it grates annoyingly on Peter’s senses “I’ve got plenty of money.” 

“Did you steal the money?”  Peter pulls some new clothes out of his duffle bag and stands up straight to look at the other man.

“Only from people who deserved to be stolen from.” 

“Like Robin Hood,” Peter grins. Even through the mask, he’s pretty sure he can feel the glare Red Hood levels on him. 

“You’re a little shit,” Hood accuses. Peter tries to put on his most innocent face but he struggles against the smile pulling at his lips. “Get changed already.”

“Uh, a little privacy please?” 

“Jesus Christ,” Jason huffs out an annoyed breath and then jumps over the balcony and down to the ground level. Peter leans over to look and make sure he landed okay then moves away from the edges to change his clothes.

“Is now a good time Peter?” Karen’s voice asks softly in his ear. 

“Yeah go ahead,” He pulls on his jeans stumbling a bit when his foot gets stuck in the leg. 

“I have fully finished my download of the information of this world, including all of their superheroes. Shall I give you the full rundown now?” 

“Let’s save that for when I have more alone time. What can you tell me about Gotham?” He pulls on a long-sleeved shirt. 

“Gotham is a city located in New Jersey. It is well known for its rampant corruption and crime. It appears that there are vigilantes that operate in this city, led by a hero known as Batman. They consist of Batman’s sidekick Robin and the vigilante known as Nightwing who mostly operates in Bludhaven, Gotham’s sister city. There is speculation online that Nightwing was once the original Robin but there is no definite proof of this.” 

“The first Robin? How many sidekicks has this guy gone through?” Peter pulls his hoodie back on over his shirt and then pulls a pair of sneakers out and slips them onto his feet. 

“The Batman seems to be very good about keeping concrete details from getting out, though online communities speculate that there have been three boy Robins and recently there have been sightings of a female Robin. There was for a period of time a Batgirl but she appears to no longer active.” 

“Geez, if he’s currently on his third Robin, and the first is now Nightwing then what happened to the second?” He attempts to tame the curls on his head but Peter is pretty sure it’ll be futile until he can find a way to wash it thoroughly. There’s sweat and blood and probably debris from the fight and dust from spending the night on the ground. 

“There is no information on the disappearance of the second Robin,” Karen says. That causes Peter to pause. It’s a risk every hero takes when they put on their mask. Something they face again and again. Peter had been young when he became Spider-man. Far too young, but if he had the chance to go back and stop his younger self he isn’t sure that he would do it. Because yeah maybe he was too young to be facing that stuff alone, and maybe in a few years all of the trauma of the things he’s seen will come back to haunt him. But he saved lives. He made the world a better place. He made a difference, and if that had cost him his life he would have at least felt like it was worth it. To at least make even one person’s life better. 

Peter had been mostly alone in the beginning. He’d been alone until Stark found him and gave him the new suit and helped him to be better. They didn’t get off to the best start but Tony realized his mistake after the plane crash. He’d realized that Peter was young and untrained and that nothing was going to discourage him from being Spider-man. Was that what it had been like for Batman? Had he seen a kid determined to make a difference and taken him under his wing to help him do it safely? Peter’s death on Titan had been hard enough on Tony that he’d invented time travel just to bring Peter back. What would this Batman do to bring his Robin back?

“Would you hurry the hell up?” Red Hood yells from below. Peter startles, realizing that he’d gotten caught up in his thoughts. He zips up his duffle bag and tosses it over the balcony, then barely even thinks about it before jumping over the railing like Red Hood had before. He lands easily on the ground below and stands up straight before turning to face the Red Hood. Neither of them moves for a moment. 

“Ready?” Peter asks.

“I fucking hate this city,” Red Hood grumbles throwing Peter’s bag at him before turning around and walking through the building. Peter grins a bit and follows after him.

“You did it first,” he accuses. 

“I am the last person you should be using as an example.” 

“Why?” 

“Crime lord, remember.”

“Right right, vigilante.” 

“Crime lord,” Red Hood says firmly before climbing out through one of the windows. Peter peeks his head out and sees that the window leads into what looks like an alley. There are broken boards on the ground that Peter is pretty sure had probably been covering the window. It must be how Hood had gotten into the building the night before. 

“Hey, how old are you?” Peter asks as he climbs out being careful of the broken glass. 

“Older than you,” Hood replies.

“But like how much older?” 

“Does it matter?” Hood heads for the street. 

“Yes obviously,” Peter keeps up with him, eyes darting around now that it’s light out. It’s not completely bright though, there’s still a big gray cloud covering the whole sky that gives everything a muted look but it’s better than it was the night before when Peter had swung through the city in a panic. He glances to his side to get his first proper look at his new companion. The “not vigilante” is tall, Peter doesn’t think he’s that short but Red Hood is basically a giant. Not to mention he’s built like a brick house. Peter’s pretty sure that if he wasn’t enhanced there’s no way he could take him in a fight. 

“I’m nineteen,” he says. “Legally I suppose.” 

“Huh?” 

“I was also temporarily dead for a time” 

“Oh really!? Hey, we can be Zombie bros!” Peter grins. He knows that he probably should be a little more affected by this. By being in another world where he doesn’t exist and no one he knows is around to help him. But he doesn’t have it in him to explore those feelings yet. To let himself be sad. His spider-sense is still at a low buzz of danger danger danger. Urging him to keep on the move. Keep his head on a swivel. Get somewhere high and dark and safe. But Peter cannot do that if he wants to get settled in this new world. 

He feels a little better with Red Hood by his side. Despite the man's insistence on being a villain he clearly a big softie. He’s not the first person to pretend to be immune to Peter’s charms. There is a definite don’t fuck with me vibe about the guy though and whether it’s that or the helmet he wears everyone on the streets gives them a wide berth. 

“We’re definitely not bros,” Hood says. Peter bumps his shoulder against the taller man’s arm and realizes when the man stumbles a bit that he probably used too much strength.

“Oops,” Peter says sheepishly. 

“What the fuck,” Hood says as he rubs his arm. 

“So… Guess the whole crime lord thing doesn’t come with strength.” 

“It does when I know I need it. Wasn’t expecting to get tossed around by a twig,” Red Hood stops walking and turns his head to look at Peter fully. 

“Sorry?” Peter mumbles, scuffing his shoe against the ground. He’s usually better at controlling his strength, but after watching Red Hood jump off the balcony he’d assumed he was at least a bit enhanced. 

“Are you Meta?” Hood asks, lowering his voice a bit. Peter frowns and considers how to answer. There’s been a lot of back and forth in his world about Mutants and most of it had been negative. Peter wasn’t technically a mutant since his powers came from the spider bite and not from the x-gene. 

“Peter, my research shows that Meta is the term used in this world for the enhanced individuals of this world, however, it does appear to be well known that Batman has enforced a no metas in Gotham rule,” Karen supplies. 

“Is… Is Batman going to throw me out of the city if I am?” Peter asks. Red Hood curses under his breath but his modulator doesn’t quite catch it so it comes out garbled. Peter scrunches up his face at the sound. 

“Okay, first food then we’re going to talk about what you’ve got going on,” Red Hood sighs and throws his arm around Peter’s shoulders pulling him along to where a food truck sits on the side of the road. Peter can already smell bacon and his mouth practically waters. He hurries up a little more to get into the line. 

“Oh breakfast burritos!” he cheers when he sees the menu. Hood stands beside him and rests an elbow on Peter’s shoulder. It would be a little annoying but Peter’s pretty sure that it’s just an attempt to keep Peter close and protected. His spider-sense seems to agree so Peter allows it. He rolls his eyes when he feels Red Hood lean more of his weight on him, testing probably.  

“Do you have white boy taste buds?” he asks. Peter resists the urge to flip him off. 

“I can eat spicy things,” Peter insists. 

“Thank god,” Red Hood says before stepping up to the window and ordering six burritos and a couple of bottles of water. “Coffee?” he asks tilting his head back to look at Peter.

“Oh um, no thank you me and caffeine don’t do well together,” He admits. 

“One coffee then, black,” Red Hood says. Peter hears the sound of breaking glass somewhere in the distance and turns his head to look in that direction. He’s itching to help. It would take nothing at all to throw on his suit and go help them. But it would be pretty obvious that he was meta if he started swinging around and using his strength. He doesn’t need Batman chasing him down, not yet at least. 

“Kid,” Red Hood calls to get his attention. Peter pulls his gaze away from what he can hear is a robbery and looks back at the man in front of him. 

“I’m only two years younger than you.” 

“Which means I’m an adult and you aren’t.” Red Hood leads him away from the food truck to where a mostly intact bench sits by a bus stop. It’s covered in graffiti and it only groans a bit when Red Hood drops down onto it. Peter sits beside him and pulls his legs up, crossing them. Red Hood drops the bag of food on his lap and then takes a sip of his coffee. 

“It still doesn’t mean you can call me a kid,” Peter opens the bag and takes one of the burritos and a bottle of water for himself. He sets the bag on the bench between them then opens his burrito and takes a large bite out of it. “Oh my god that’s good.” 

“Absolutely the best breakfast burritos in town,” Red Hood agrees. He takes his helmet off then grabs his burrito out and starts to eat. 

“Are we going to talk about my abilities now?” 

“Are they going to get you in trouble?” 

“I mean… they do have a tendency to do that,” He shrugs one shoulder and finishes off the burrito. As he crumbles up the wrapper Red Hood hands him another. 

“Batman’s no meta thing is more about the other capes,” he admits. “The heroes outside of Gotham don’t understand how Gotham works so whenever they come in to help things can get a little messy.” 

“So is Batman not meta?” 

“No, he’s just a psychopath with a utility belt,” Red Hood scoffs. 

“Huh, that’s kind of cool,” Peter’s second burrito is barely gone before a third one is placed in his hands. 

“It’s definitely not cool,” There’s anger in Red Hood’s voice when he speaks about Batman and Peter wonders if their beef is just about Hood’s criminal history or something deeper. Peter tends to get a little too personal with his own villains so he gets it. 

“So he won’t care that I’m living in Gotham with powers?” 

“No, as long as you aren’t using them to make a scene,” Hood shrugs. Peter finishes off his third burrito and considers it. His plan had been to get settled out here and then start out with Spider-Man once again. But will he be stepping on Batman’s toes if he does that? He needs to do more research before he makes his decision. 

“So how did you really end up in Gotham?” Red Hood asks as he holds out another burrito. Peter eyes the bag between them. There had been six and the only one left was the one in Red Hood’s hand. 

“I already had three,” Peter points out.

“Extra strength typically comes with needing extra food.” 

“Well… Yeah, but I’m pretty used to running at a deficit.”

“That’s not a great thing,” Red Hood makes him take the burrito then gets up to throw away their trash before Peter can protest. 

“I said I wasn’t a rich kid, food is expensive,” Peter feels guilty as he finishes his fourth burrito. “But anyway, I uh got dumped here in Gotham after some kinda… Well, it’s hard to explain, I made a bunch of mistakes and in the end, the only way to fix everything and to keep my friends safe was to come here.” 

“What can you do?” Red Hood asks as he comes back over to the bench and picks up his helmet. Peter considers what to tell him. He’s been thankful for Red Hood's company so far and he does seem nice. Peter’s spider-sense seems to want to trust the man. But he is technically a villain of sorts. Peter’s had enough betrayal for one lifetime thank you very much.  

“I’m strong,” He settles on. “And I have enhanced senses.” 

“The headphones?” Red Hood asks. 

“They dampen my hearing, I still hear better than most humans with them on. But I sometimes get sensory overload. Things are too bright or too loud.” 

“That’s what you keep tilting your head like you’re trying to hear something?” 

“Oh,” it’s probably when Karen is talking to him actually. “Yeah probably.” 

“So how much do we need to feed you to keep you from keeling over?” 

“Do you want the exact caloric intake needed or a more rough estimation?” 

“Do you know the exact caloric intake?” 

“Yeah, of course, Tony he used to be my mentor. We used his lab to figure it out.” 

“You had a mentor?” 

“Yeah! Well, I was his intern. He had a great lab though and we were able to study all the changes.” 

“Changes, so you weren’t born like this?” 

“Are you interrogating me?” Peter asks, looking to study the other man.

“A little bit,” he admits. Peter sticks his tongue out at him. He’s got to remember to watch his mouth. He can’t just blab everything. 

“Well, I’m not gonna like turn into a villain or something. I have a lot of brains for a zombie.” 

“You really are not from Gotham.”

“What makes you say that?” 

“Most of our rogues have doctorates.” 

“Oh… well I mean I haven’t graduated high school technically sooooo I’m in the clear?” 

“Sure kid.” 

“Great, glad we agree. Still not a kid.” 

“Do you need more food?” 

“Probably, but like I said I can get by on my own.” 

“You don’t have to. Give me your phone,” Red Hood holds out his hand. Peter hesitates then pulls his Starkphone out of his pocket. Since Karen is connected to the network now it will work, though without a Tony in this universe there are no Stark industries so his phone will stand out.

“What the hell is this?” Red Hood asks as he takes the phone from Peter. 

“My phone obviously,” he jumps up to take it back but Red Hood manages to dodge him. 

“What’s Stark?” 

“My mentor. He made it for me,” Peter jumps forward trying to snatch it but Red Hood easily keeps it away. 

“What can it do?” 

“Normal phone stuff,” Peter looks around and then hops up onto the bench, using it as leverage as he jumps over Red Hood reaching for it. Hood ducks down.

“Of course, I get saddled with another flippy bastard,” He grumbles. “Can it encrypt a call?” Peter hops up and lands on Hood’s shoulders trying to reach for the phone. Hood reaches up and grabs Peter by the hoodie to pull him down and dangle him in the air. Peter kicks his feet and grumbles but he doesn’t put up a real fight. 

“You done?” Red Hood asks. 

“Yes fine,” Peter whines. Red Hood drops him back onto the ground and drops a hand on the top of his head to hold him still.

“Oh don’t touch my hair it’s gross,” Peter tries to get away but Jason keeps his grip on his head. 

“I’ve got a place we can fix that if you could shut up for five seconds.”

“Oh really?” Peter stands still. As much as he’s trying his best not to trust the Red Hood he really does want a shower and some more food. He’s pretty sure that Red Hood is rolling his eyes at him as he types a number into the phone. There’s a slight sound of static from Peter’s earbuds as the call connects through them as well. Peter really wishes there was a way for him to thank Karen for her smart thinking. 

“You have reached the Wayne residence,” A man with a British accent answers.  

Chapter Text

Jason

“You have reached the Wayne Residence,” Alfred answers after the first ring. Jason ignores the pang of familiarity in his chest. He doesn’t know why he made this call. Why this was his first thought when he found out that the kid needed more food, Jason’s got the money, he could have just gotten them a hotel room or set up a new safehouse. But when he thought of the best way to try to take care of a homeless teen, who may or may not be a clone of his brother with superpowers, Alfred was his first thought. 

“Yo Alfie, is the nest empty today?” He asks. There’s silence on the other end of the call. Jason can picture Alfred standing in the manor, phone clutched tightly in his hand as he processes. Jason’s not an idiot, he’s left enough clues for Bruce to be suspicious of his identity and he’s sure that Bruce has probably shared that theory with Alfred. 

“Master Jason,” Alfred’s voice is still steady but Jason knows him well enough to hear the slight waver. “Yes sir, the family is not expected back at the manor until late this evening.” 

“I’ve got a friend in need of a hot shower and a large meal. Like feeding a Kent type of meal,” Jason glances at Peter and sees him watching Jason closely. He’s got the feeling that Peter can hear every word of this conversation. So his name is out there now. He wonders if it is safe to reveal all this to the kid but he can’t help but want to help him. 

“I see. I shall prepare a luncheon then for you and your friend. Should I prepare for overnight guests?” Alfred asks. Jason glances over at Peter and the brunette shakes his head. 

“No, just a visit. As long as no one unexpectedly returns home,” Jason’s hand is still on Peter’s hair and he realizes now just how much of a mess the curls actually are. The bruise he’d see under the boy's eye is pretty much gone and the cut on his temple looks nearly a week old though there’s still dried blood on his face. Alfred’s going to love fretting over the kid. 

“Of course sir. When shall I expect you?” 

“Give us an hour to get up to Bristol,” Jason hangs up the phone before Alfred can say anything else and tosses the phone back to Peter. The kid’s hand shoots out and catches it automatically. 

“And you called me a rich kid,’ Peter grumbles, cradling his phone against his chest. 

“We’ve all got harried pasts,” Jason gives the kid's head a push and heads down the street. Peter grumbles and follows after him. 

“Can I call you Jason now?” He asks.

“No,” Jason snaps at him. 

“But Red Hood is a lot, can I call you Red then?” 

“No,” Jason turns a corner into an alleyway and pulls out a motorcycle from its hiding place. 

“Jay?” Peter asks. Jason leads the motorcycle out onto the street and then unlocks the extra helmet he keeps in case of emergency. 

“Are you going to keep this up all the way to the Manor?” 

“Are we riding that motorcycle there?” 

“Yes obviously. Unless you’d rather walk.” 

“No, I guess not. I’ve never been on a motorcycle before. I had almost convinced Mr Rogers once but my Aunt May found out and she gave him a strict scolding. She used to be a nurse so she saw a lot of people after motorcycle accidents,” Peter gets closer to the bike as he talks, his eyes scanning it over. 

“Did they have superpowers?” Jason drops the helmet onto the kid's head and buckles the strap under his chin. 

“Well, not that I know of,” Peter admits. Jason looks at Peter and waits. 

“Do you want a hot shower and the best meal of your life?” 

“Yes,” Peter nods his head. 

“Then get on the bike,” Jason says. Peter eyes the bike one more time then climbs on behind Jason and wraps his arms tightly around his waist. Jason gives him a moment to settle and then starts the bike and starts driving before he can change his mind. Peter clings on tightly. 

The drive to the Manor is achingly familiar to Jason. He remembers the first time, in the back seat of a social worker's car. He’d been so scared that first time. So unsure about what was going to happen. He’d heard so much gossip about Bruce Wayne and he had no idea what to expect from the man. After that day he rarely went into Gotham when he wasn’t as Robin. He remembers watching out the window of the batmobile, half asleep after patrol as the city flew by. He tries not to think about that time too often. Of how when he’d fall asleep before they got back to the cave Bruce would carry him up to his bedroom instead of waking him up and making him debrief. 

Peter’s grip on Jason’s waist loosens up a bit as he grows more comfortable and Jason is tempted to have a little fun with it but honestly, he doesn’t know what kind of injuries the kid has hidden under his clothes and he’d much rather wait for him to be fully checked out by Alfred before pulling anything risky. So he’ll save that for the ride home. 

The gates of the manor are already sliding open as Jason turns the bike onto the driveway. He’s sure that Alfred has already been watching the cameras, and with the memory of the cameras, he realizes that he’s going to have to either hack the system to delete the footage of their visit or ask that Alfred do it for them. 

“Damn that’s a real manor,” Peter says, hopping off the bike as soon as it comes to a stop. Jason gets off the bike himself and catches Peter’s hood before he can wander off into the garden. There’s a maze out there that he somehow doubts the kid wouldn’t manage to get lost in. He heads up the steps to the door dragging Peter behind him. The door opens before they even reach the top step and there’s Alfred, dressed as impeccably as always. 

“Whoa,” Peter exclaims, “Are you a real butler?” 

“Quite, sir,” Alfred steps aside holding the door open for them. Jason guides Peter inside before releasing his hood. He listens to the sound of the door closing. It's silent for a moment as Peter turns around taking in the sights of the grand entrance. “Welcome home Master Red Hood.” 

“It’s fine Alfie the kid knows,” Jason reaches up and takes off his helmet and then removes his domino mask as well. Alfred holds out a hand. Jason considers it for a moment then hands the masks over. Alfred takes the items and then his eyes scan over Jason, cataloging all of the changes probably. 

“Of course Master Jason,” Alfred turns and sets the helmet carefully on the table beside the door. “Shall I take your guest's helmet as well?” 

“Yeah, sure. Pete, stop gawking,” Jason tells him. Peter startles from his examination and hurries back to Jason’s side. 

“Sorry,” He says as he unbuckles the helmet and takes it off. Jason takes it from his hands and passes it to Alfred. The butler's eyes scan over Peter’s appearance though he doesn’t speak a word before putting the helmet down. 

“Peter this is Alfred Pennyworth. He’s been a butler for the Wayne family since the dawn of time. Alfred this is Peter” 

“Not quite so long,” Alfred corrects. 

“It’s nice to meet you Mr Pennyworth,” Peter says with a bright smile as he holds out a hand. Alfred smiles gently as he clasps the teen's hand. 

“A pleasure Peter,” Alfred’s eyes linger on Peter’s smile and Jason knows that he’s seen the same thing that Jason had seen. There’s no mistaking Dick’s smile on Peter’s face. “Lunch shall be ready shortly. Master Jason, I have prepared the guest bathroom on the second floor if you or your guest would like to tidy up before the meal.” 

“Yeah sounds good. Come on Peter,” Jason heads for the stairs. He hears Peter’s footsteps following after him and doesn’t bother to look back. 

“So like you’re a rich rich right?” Peter asks, skipping steps to keep up with Jason. 

“No.” 

“But this is your home?” 

“It used to be, it isn’t anymore.”

“Why not?” 

“I died,” Jason opens the door to one of the guest rooms and goes straight for the ensuite bathroom. He pushes the door open and then turns to look at Peter. “Do you have clean clothes?”

“Um basically clean,” Peter shrugs tugging at the strap of his duffle bag. Jason rolls his eyes and holds out his hand. 

“Give it here Alfred will wash them for you.” 

“Oh, that's okay. I was just gonna take them to the laundromat.” 

“Peter, Alfred will consider it an insult if you don’t leave here with all of your clothes washed and folded properly. Do you want to insult the man who is basically my grandfather?” 

“What? No of course not, but it’s like… I can do it you know?” 

“He’s going to be so offended,” Jason sighs and shakes his head. “I hear the disappointment in his voice already.” Peter shifts his weight from foot to foot and he looks so uncomfortable with the idea of upsetting Alfred that Jason knows he’s won. Peter lets out a long sigh and then holds the bag out to Jason. 

“There’s… like other stuff in there too,” He says. Jason shrugs as he takes the bag. 

“Alfred will keep it all safe. Go ahead and take a shower. I’m sure I can find something around here that will fit you,” He gives Peter a gentle shove towards the bathroom and waits until he goes in and closes the door before leaving the guest room. He drops Peter’s bag at the top of the stairs and hesitates. Peter’s pretty scrawny, and judging by the pictures that Jason’s seen of his replacement they’re probably about the same size.  He knows that he should head for the resident's wing. It’s not like it will be hard to pick out which of the rooms the replacement had been given. Or was it his room? Had they replaced him so thoroughly that Timothy Drake had taken over his room? 

Jason steels himself and heads to the bedrooms. He keeps himself from looking at his door and goes to the rooms that had been empty during his time at the manor first. The first door leads to a room that is still empty so he quickly shuts it back down and opens the second, he stops in the doorway and his eyes scan over everything. It’s not a guest room anymore. The sheets have been changed from Alfred’s preferred green to a bright red. There’s a few textbooks sitting on the desk. But it doesn’t exactly look lived in. It’s not really what you’d expect from a teenager's room. He moves into the room and checks the wardrobe, finding only the bare minimum of clothes. 

“Where’s all his shit?” Jason mutters to himself as he returns to the hallway. He goes to Dick’s room instead. As soon as he enters it’s clear that Dick hasn’t returned to the manor in the time that Jason’s been gone. It still looks like a teenager's room. Jason goes to the wardrobe and grabs a few clothes that look like they won’t be too big on Peter. He’s definitely not going to fit into any of his brother’s clothes but he has a pretty good idea of who’s clothes he will fit. 

He quickly drops Dick’s clothes off in the guest room for Peter and then heads to the master bedroom. He can feel the rage bubbling up, the green threatening to take over. He focuses his thoughts on his brother, on Alfred, and on Peter. He makes quick work of grabbing a plain t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from Bruce’s wardrobe and then hurries out of the room. He means to go back to Dick’s room, but muscle memory takes over in his rush and he finds himself standing in his own room. 

It is still his room. Those are his books on the shelves and his band posters on the wall and the black bedding that he had begged Alfred for. It looks exactly the way it had when Jason had left for Ethiopia. His homework was on the desk, the copy of Pride and Prejudice he’d been reading on the nightstand with the bookmark still in the pages. It’s his room. His room was clearly untouched beyond the obvious dusting.

“Master Jason,” Alfred’s voice comes from the doorway. Jason turns quickly to face him, his hand almost reaching for his gun before he catches himself. Alfred of course doesn’t even flinch. 

“My room,” is all he manages to get out. Alfred has an understanding look on his face as he comes into the room and runs one of his fingers over one of the shelves, checking for dust as though it would be anything less than impeccable. 

“Yes of course it is,” Alfred says, because of course, of course Alfred knows what he means. Jason waits for the rage. He waits for the pit to rise up inside him, to give him something to cling to that isn’t this pain and longing and homesickness. It doesn’t come, now when he needs it the most to help him keep his resolve it is silent. 

“Why?” His desperation leaks through his voice. Alfred moves slowly, deliberately broadcasting his movements as he brings a hand up to rest on Jason’s shoulder. 

“This room will always be your room, Master Jason. From the moment you first came into this house and it will remain your room as long as this manor stands.” Jason sinks down onto the foot of his bed, his head dropping into his hands. Alfred squeezes his shoulder. “I will make sure that your friend is cared for. I assume that his belongings will need to be washed, and I will make sure that he eats as much as he needs to. Do join us when you are feeling more ready.” 

“Thank Alfie,” He sighs. He can’t bring himself to move as the butler leaves the room.

Chapter Text

Peter

The shower is absolutely glorious. Peter’s pretty sure that he could spend ten years in there and still not want to get out. When he’d first gotten in he had to try really hard not to notice how pink the water had been. He doesn’t remember bleeding that much during the whole thing but really it had been a whirlwind and he doesn’t even clearly remember how much time had passed between the first spell and the Statue of Liberty. There’s a plethora of shower products available in the bathroom. Peter hadn’t cared too much about what they were supposed to do but he had carefully smelled each one and picked the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that had been the easiest on his senses. 

Further away in the manor he could hear Jason and Alfred talking and figured that was probably the sign that he should get out so he turns off the water and steps out onto the heated tile floor and grabs the biggest fluffiest towel he has ever seen in his life. He’s gotten more used to luxury during his time with Tony but Tony’s penthouse had always been modern and everything appeared almost sharper. Sure it had been super convenient to have an entire house run by FRIDAY but only the sitting room and the bedroom that had been designated for Peter had really felt lived in. This house clearly had history to it. Something that Tony would have called old money like he wasn’t old money himself. 

Peter peeks his head out of the bathroom and into the overly large guest bedroom he’d been permitted to use. There’s some clothes sitting on a dresser that must be the ones that Jason had left for him. He wraps a towel around his waist and hurries out to grab them before returning to the bathroom to set them on the counter. As he does so he catches sight of himself in the mirror and pauses to catalog the injuries that are left. Now that he’s clean the yellowing bruises look a little gross. Peter pokes around his ribs and finds that the one he’s pretty sure had been broken seems to be mending okay. The cut on his face is nearly all healed up and he figures that if he eats the good meal Jason had promised him today that it should be gone by tomorrow. Which was perfect for him. He wanted to be able to travel around the city without getting any weird looks or having any well meaning adults asking him if he needed help. 

The clothes that Jason had left for him seem pretty normal. A pair of jeans and a belt, along with a white T-shirt with a bright logo on the front. Peter doesn’t recognize the name but wonders if it might be a band or something. There’s a hoodie as well, one that will definitely be a bit large on him. It’s blue and red and has a stylized ‘S’ on the front. He pulls the clothes on quickly and then uses the towel to dry his hair as well as he can. After that, he grabs his headphones off the counter and pops them back onto his ears. 

“Karen?” He asks, checking in the drawers until he finds a bunch of toothbrushes still in their packages along with several different types of toothpaste. 

“Hello Peter,” she answers. “Can I help you?” 

“Tomorrow I need to start getting stuff together. Can you try and find me somewhere that I can make my web fluid? Maybe a school like Midtown or something that I can get in and out of easily and won’t have too much security,” he picks out a toothpaste that doesn’t say anything about mint on the box and starts to brush his teeth. “I need to figure out somewhere to get cleaning supplies too. Oh and maybe find out the bulk trash day? I’m gonna need to build some things if I’m gonna get comfortable at the Opera house.” 

“I will look into that for you,” She says. Peter spits into the sink and then rinses his mouth out with water. 

“You’re the best,” He rinses off the toothbrush thoroughly and then puts it back into its package so he can carry it in the front pocket of his borrowed hoodie. He feels a little guilty as he pockets the toothpaste as well but non-mint toothpaste is annoying to find and a little pricier if he doesn’t want to use the kid's stuff. 

He grabs his shoes and his dirty clothes off the floor and heads back out of the room to try and find his way at least back to where they’d come in. He freezes as his foot lands on the first stair and his eyes widen.

“Oh my god my suit,” He whispers. His suit was in his bag. Jason took his bag to give to Alfred to wash everything. Alfred was going to see his spider suit. Peter rushes down the stairs. Jumping when he nears the bottom and his socks skid across the hardwood floors for a second. He spins around a bit trying to listen for where the butler could be, but before he can pick any directions Alfred appears. 

“Feeling better after your shower Master Peter?” He asks. Peter wrinkles his nose at the title in front of his name. 

“I um, yeah great. Perfect. So good,” He stammers. 

“Wonderful. Lunch is ready in the dining room. Master Jason will be joining you momentarily but do feel free to start eating. Shall I take those clothes as well?” Alfred asks. Peter rocks on his heels trying to think of what he can say to get his belongings back before anything gets found. 

“Oh, that’s, that’s awfully nice of you. But I mean it’s really okay. I can wash my own clothes, you know? Why don’t I just take the bag back and I can put these in there too,” Peter tries. Alfred raises an eyebrow, a knowing look in his eyes and Peter knows that it’s already too late. 

“I assure you Master Peter it is no trouble at all. In a family as big as this one there’s nothing I haven’t seen. Now may I take the remainder of your clothes?” 

“Thank you,” Peter hands over the clothes, despite popular belief he does know how to choose his battles and stand down when he’s outmatched. 

“It’s my pleasure. You will find the dining room just through that doorway there, I shall return momentarily,” Alfred turns then and heads off. Peter rocks on his heels and takes a deep breath. He’s only been in this world for less than twenty-four hours and he’s already made mistakes. He listens for Alfred’s retreating footsteps then goes through the door the butler had indicated and finds a fancy looking formal dining room and a table covered with a spread of food. Peter’s mouth is already watering as he takes a seat at the table. He should feel a little bad about it but with his injuries, his healing factor had already burned through the breakfast burritos they’d had for breakfast and he needed to be at 100% if he wanted to get properly settled into this world. 

He waits a few minutes, hoping Jason will join him or Alfred will come back. But when he hears neither of their heartbeats moving decides that he should just start on his own as he’d been told to. He stands up to reach the food better as he loads a bit of everything on his plate then sits down with his legs crossed on the chair and starts to eat. The food is great. Amazing really and there’s so much for just the three people currently in the house that he doesn’t feel bad about eating his fill. He’s loading up his plate for the second time when Jason appears in the doorway. Peter startles a little, realizing that he’d been so focused he hadn’t heard Jason coming. He slides his headphones off and lets them hang around his neck as he takes in the other man. Jason looks worn out, there’s an exhaustion in his eyes that Peter feels like he resonates with. 

“Enjoying the food?” Jason asks as he drops into a chair across from Peter. 

“Yeah, it’s great!” Peter says cheerfully. He watches closely as Jason picks some food out for himself though his movements seem stilted. “Is something wrong?” he asks. Jason pauses for just a second. 

“Nothing,” Jason says. He takes a large bite of food before Peter can ask him any more questions. Peter frowns a bit and considers pushing for more but they really aren’t that close yet and he isn’t sure if its his place to push about this. They’re basically strangers and while they haven’t talked about it today Jason did seem pretty adamant about getting rid of Peter the night before. Will it be different now that he knows Jason’s identity? Now that Peter has seen the kind of place he came from? 

“Mast Jason I do hope that you haven’t lost all of the table manners I taught you,” Alfred says as he sets a tray with a tea set down on the table. He's so startled by the butler’s sudden appearance that he nearly knocks over his glass of water. He can’t believe that even with his headphones off he still didn’t hear him coming. He really wishes that his spider-sense would get itself together. 

“Sorry Alfie,” Jason says sheepishly. Alfred just hums as he pours some tea into a glass and adds a bit of cream and a few sugar cubes. Peter watches him interested, he’s never actually seen someone with a proper tea set before. Aunt May had only drank tea when she was feeling really stressed and then she’d usually just used one of their chipped mugs and the electric kettle. Peter sniffs the air a bit but the tea smells nothing like the herbal kind that May had liked. Alfred sets the teacup and a saucer beside Jason’s plate. 

“Tea, Master Peter?” Alfred asks. 

“Oh um sure,” Peter says. 

“How do you take it?” He asks. Peter considers his answer. 

“I’m not sure,” He admits. He doesn’t want to make a choice and accidentally insult them if he doesn’t like the outcome. Alfred rounds the table with the tray. He pours some tea into a cup and then sets it in front of Peter. 

“Finding how you prefer your tea can be a bit of trial and error,” Alfred says as he places a small pitcher and a little bowl of sugar cubes on the table. “Do feel free to experiment a bit.” He picks the tray up again and makes his way out of the room. 

“Take a sip before you start adding things in,” Jason says. Peter looks over at him. 

“Huh?” 

“The first time Alfred made me tea I added in like all the sugar cubes. I rarely got sweets when I was growing up. There was so much sugar I couldn’t even drink it.” Jason takes a bite of his sandwich and for a second he looks like he’s going to say something else but glances quickly at the door the butler disappeared through and seems to think better of speaking with the food in his mouth. Peter picks up the teacup carefully with both hands and blows on it a bit before taking a sip.

“What happens after this?” he asks as he considers the cream and sugar. 

“Huh?” Jason asks.

“Well… last night you said you were going to make me go to the shelter today,” Peter adds just a bit of cream and then takes another sip of the tea. 

“Right, yeah,” Jason frowns at him. Peter adds a sugar cube. 

“But it’s a big place. I think we’d both be okay there, you know?” 

“You need somewhere safe to stay,” Jason says. 

“It is safe. Especially with both of us there. It’s important to have someone that watches your back.” 

“I work better alone,” there’s a frown on Jason’s face as he says it.

“Okay well, we can both do our work alone and still live together.” 

“Pete,” Jason starts.

“Jason,” Peter fires back. Lowering his voice a bit he says “You said that I would only be okay if I didn’t make a scene. But who’s going to keep me from accidentally making a scene with my powers if I’m on my own? What if that Batman guy comes after me for being Meta.” Jason freezes at Peter’s words. He clenches his fists and takes a deep breath. There’s almost a green glow to his eyes. 

“Batman is not going to touch you,” Jason’s voice is a growl. Peter’s spider-sense is going off, telling him that Jason is dangerous. That he’s going to snap. Peter stays perfectly still. 

“Let’s stick together,” Peter says keeping his voice steady. He takes deep exaggerated breaths. Jason’s eyes are locked on him. “You don’t like Batman. You have some sort of personal problems.” 

“That bastard -” Jason cuts himself off. He holds his gaze on Peter’s chest, watching each breath. Peter doesn’t know if he’s doing it on purpose or not but Jason starts copying him. Matching his breathing to Peter’s. 

“You don’t trust him,” Peter says softly. “You’ve been nice to me since we met. You trusted me with your secret and brought me here to eat. I think I can trust you. So if you don’t trust this Batman then I won’t either. I’ll stay away from him.” 

“He uses people,” Jason growls. Peter nods his head. 

“Okay, then I’ll stay off his radar. But that means I have to stay out of the shelters too because everything is different in this place and I don’t know how to handle myself here yet. If he doesn’t like metas and I make a mistake in a shelter then I’m going to draw his attention. So I’ll stay on the streets til I can get myself an identity and get my own place.” 

“You can’t stay on the streets, you’re just a kid.” Jason inhales deeply and then lets it out slowly. The green has faded from his eyes a bit and Peter’s spider sense has calmed down. There’s no immediate threat anymore. 

“So are you,” Peter points out. Jason scoffs and flicks something on his plate at Peter. Peter ducks out of the way of it. 

“I haven’t been a kid in a long time,” Jason says. The exhaustion is back in his voice but Peter thinks he gets it. 

“Us zombies have to stick together,” Peter tells him. 

“We’re not fucking zombies,” Jason says with an eye roll, but it's fond enough that Peter knows he’s won. 

“Ghosts then,” He decides. 

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter and Jason leave the Manor shortly after they finish their meal. Alfred seems reluctant to let them go but Jason is feeling antsy after whatever happened when Peter had brought up Batman and insisted that they needed to go. Peter had agreed and let Jason rush him to the door. His duffle bag had been waiting there for them already, along with two camping bags packed full of stuff. Jason had rolled his eyes at that but didn’t argue about taking them. He’d put his domino mask and helmet back on and made sure that Peter strapped his own helmet on properly before they’d gone back out to the motorcycle. 

That had been a couple of days ago. Jason and Peter had both settled into a sort of routine back at the Opera house together. Jason went out for most of the night, he never told Peter where he was going or what he was doing, and judging by the smells of gunpowder and blood that clung to him when he returned in the mornings Peter probably didn’t want to know too many details. 

Peter spent his days making the Opera house a bit more comfortable for both of them. With the help of Karen, he’d found his way to a dollar store and used his thirty dollars to buy some basic cleaning supplies and a few tools. He cleans the box he’d chosen the first night from top to bottom. The bags that Alfred had packed for them had turned out to be full of useful things. There were two foam camping mats and nice thick sleeping bags that helped Peter stay warm at night. There’d also been some extra clothes for both of them, nonperishable food, a camping stove, and some collapsible cooking utensils as well. 

Keeping true to his word Peter mostly stuck up in the boxes of the Opera house. He made one into their sleeping quarters and the one beside it into a combination kitchen workspace. While he tried to be a bit quieter during the day while Jason was sleeping he spent the nights taking out what was left of the seating in the two boxes. He’d found a lot of fabrics in the back of the Opera house and had hung it along the balcony as a sort of curtain to give them some privacy. Not that there was really anyone else coming around. Karen had found a bunch of rumors online about the Opera house and how it was haunted and cursed. Peter thought it was a little amusing now that he’d declared himself and Jason ghosts. 

The crime lord vigilante was sleeping in their bedroom box at the moment as Peter moved about the Opera house looking for anything else useful he might find. He’d come back smelling a bit like explosives this morning and while Peter was concerned he wasn’t really sure what to make of it. Jason was nice to him. He was a bit of an asshole sometimes but Peter knew he cared. He knew he was a nice guy, even if he was getting into some trouble. It was clear that something had happened that hurt him and he was not the first person that Peter had met who made a bad decision when they were hurt. He had his own share of rogues like that back in his own universe and if he could help Jason by being his companion he was going to do his best. 

“Hey Karen,” Peter said as he jumped across the orchestra pit and onto the stage. Jason had claimed the orchestra pit as his own. On their second day at the Opera house, Jason had lugged in a couple of big generators for them to use. One was up in their boxes and the other was in the orchestra pit. Jason had set up a computer down there, with multiple monitors that seemed to access cameras all around Crime Alley. There was also a table in there covered with weapons of all kinds. Some looked actually pretty cool 

“Yes, Peter?” Karen responded. Peter walks along the edge of the stage, holding his arms out like it's a balance beam. He misses going out as Spider-man. He Misses the feeling of swinging and the comfort that being up so high in the air brings him. He still hasn’t told Jason about the rest of his powers, or his alter ego of Spider-man. He’d feel more guilty but Jason’s definitely got his own secrets and as long as Peter doesn’t pry into them he doesn’t see the need for Jason to pry into his own. Peter bends backward and kicks up his feet so he’s standing on his hands. 

“I need to make some more fluid, did you look into those locations for me?” He asks. Jason had told him before he went to sleep that he’d be going out again tonight and that it might end up being a couple of days. He’d seemed stiff when he said it. Almost unsure about whatever it was he was going to do. Peter worried that he’d made a dumb decision. That for some reason Jason wouldn’t come back. He doesn’t know if he can handle losing anyone else so soon after May and his universe. If something happens to Jason, Peter wants to be able to help him and he can’t help him if he’s not prepared. 

“Yes Peter, per your specifications I have found two locations nearby that have the supplies needed on hand. Gotham Academy is a private school located here in Gotham. There is also a public school of science in Bludhaven.” 

“Who names a city Bludhaven? That seems terrible,” Peter lands back on his feet and adjusts his headphones. They sit him pretty snuggly but he does worry a little bit when he’s flipping around. 

“Bludhaven is considered the sister city of Gotham,” Karen says.

“Oof guess it runs in the family,” Peter stretches out properly the way Tony had always insisted he do before he did any training. Turning the Opera house into an Opera home has kept him busy but it was still a lot less physical activity than he was used to. He goes to one end of the stage and slips his shoes off making sure to line them up properly. He raises his hands above his head, takes a slow deep breath and then moves across the stage doing flips and rolls. It’s not the same as swinging about as Spider-man but it does help loosen up some of the tension he’d been carrying. When he reaches the other side of the stage he repeats the movements back to where he left his shoes. 

“What are you doing, circus freak?” Jason’s voice comes from the balcony. Peter sticks the landing right in line with his shoes and turns to look at their box with a grin. Jason has opened the curtain and is leaning on the railing watching him. 

“I get stir-crazy when I sit around for too long,” Peter explains. 

“You literally haven’t sat still in days,” even without his enhanced sight Peter’s pretty sure he’d have been able to see Jason’s eye roll.  

“I’ve barely done anything!” Peter insists. Jason rubs his hand over his face and grumbles under his breath. 

“Let's put your energy to some use then,” Jason moves further back into their balcony and Peter can hear him rifling around through his clothes. 

“What are we doing?” Peter asks, bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

“Getting the water turned back on,” Jason comes back to the balcony with his helmet back on and his leather jacket. He jumps down and walks over to the aisle. From what they could tell of their examination of the Opera house bathrooms everything was still in function but without the water turned on they were pretty useless. Thankfully there was a diner a couple of blocks away whose workers didn’t seem to care if they used the bathrooms there but it was really annoying to have to get over there if they woke up in the middle of the night. 

“How are we doing that?” Peter asked, slipping his feet into his shoes and leaning down to tighten the laces. It’s not like they owned the building so they couldn’t just call the city. 

“I looked into it when I was out the other night,” Jason says. “If we get to the water shut-off valve we should be able to turn it on. We might have to do it sparingly. I doubt the city actually pays attention to that kind of shit but if you get one worker who still has the will to live that notices then we might be in trouble.” 

“How do they keep their records?” Peter asks, jumping down to land next to Jason. Jason flicks his forehead and then heads for the door. 

“I don’t know, probably on a computer or something. I never cared to look it up.” 

“Well we should,” Peter says. “Computers aren’t really my forte, my skills are more like biochemistry kinda stuff. But my friend Ned and my mentor Tony both thought it was important for me to expand my knowledge so I’ve gotten pretty good with Computers and with engineering. Maybe I could figure out how to keep them from finding out.” 

“Seriously?” Jason asks. 

“Yeah probably,” Peter generally did try to follow the rules but Spider-man was technically a criminal, vigilantism was a crime on its own and the fact that he operated when he never signed the accords definitely would have gotten him thrown in the RAFT if he’d ever been caught. He’s not really sure how Tony kept him off Ross’s radar. But the whole thing with Damage control had made him miss his anonymity. So what were a few more crimes along the way?

“Fine, let's get the water back on and then we can figure out how to keep the city from catching us,” Jason leads Peter out into the alley that they used the most for coming and going and down the road to where a manhole cover is on the ground. Jason stops beside it and Peter wrinkles his nose when he realizes what they’re going to have to do.

“We have to go down there?” Peter asks. 

“You do,” Jason says.

“Me?”

“Yep, I don’t do underground. It’s fine, it's just a stormdrain. It’s connected to the sewer but there shouldn’t be anything too nasty down here unless there’s been a flood or something.” 

“So I have to go alone?” Peter asks.

“It’ll be quick. In and out no problem.”

“You’re going to make me take the manhole cover off too aren’t you.” 

“You’ve got super strength kid, we might as well put you to use.” 

“Fine but I want fast food for dinner,” Peter kneels down and examines the manhole cover. He’d had quite a few of them thrown at him, and he’d thrown them a few times himself but he’d always used his webs to pull them up from the ground and he wasn’t sure how to do it without sticking to it. 

“Here,” Jason says, holding out a tire iron. Peter lets out a long sigh at that. He doesn’t know why Jason seems to almost always carry the thing around. It smells like blood even though it does appear to be clean. He takes it from Jason now anyway and uses it to pry open the manhole cover. He sets them both to the side and peeks down into the hole. He’s not going to enjoy this. “Think of it this way kid, once you finish this you’ll be able to take a shower.” 

“Yeah, so exciting. Light?” Peter holds out his hand and Jason hands over one of his light sticks. Peter turns it on and then holds the handle between his teeth as he climbs down. It smells rank but Jason was right that it appears to be mostly water running through. Peter stands on the ledge and looks around. 

“There’s going to be a box down there!” Jason calls. “Once you get it open the valve should be inside. Can you break padlocks on your own?”

“Yeah probably,” Peter calls back up. Quieter he says, “Where am I looking, Karen?”

“To the left Peter.” He follows her instructions and finds a large metal box on the wall. Peter grabs the padlock and pulls it hard, snapping it open. They’ll probably have to replace it if they want it to not look suspicious. The inside of the box has a valve and a meter inside. 

“Lefty loosey righty tighty,” Peter mutters to himself as he turns the valve. 

“You good Pete?” Jason calls.

“Yeah I got it!” he calls back. Once the valve is turned all the way he closes the box back up and hangs the now broken lock on it. He figures it should be fine and heads for the manhole again. He pauses with his hand on a rung of the ladder. His spider-sense tingling. Something is coming. 

“Peter?” Jason asks. Peter looks down the waterway with a frown on his face. “Hey, kid.” 

“Yeah sorry,” Peter says. He climbs up quickly. “Do you guys have villains in the sewers?” 

“Killer Croc, if he’s not in Arkham,” Jason grabs onto Peter when he gets near the top and pulls him out. There are sounds echoing through the sewer now. Sounds of a fight, getting closer. Peter’s feet barely clear the manhole when something zips by, and the sound of metal hitting cement echoes in the tunnel. Jason drops Peter onto the ground and they glance at each other before looking through the hole. There’s some sort of metal weapon embedded in the cement beside the ladder. 

“What’s that?” Peter asks. 

“Come on, let's get out of here,” Jason says. Peter leans down through the hole to pull the weapon from the wall. A roar shakes through the sewer and Peter can see a fight happening not far away. Killer Croc is apparently an actual giant crocodile man and he appears to be fighting someone dressed in gray and black with a long black cap. 

“Is that Batman?” Peter asks. Jason grabs the back of the red and blue hoodie he’s been wearing and hauls him to his feet again. He’s pulling the manhole cover back into place before Peter can say anything else. 

“Get inside,” Jason orders. Peter looks at the weapon in his hand. It’s shaped like a bat with sharp edges. “Peter, get inside. You promised to stay away.” 

“Right, sorry,” He looks at Jason, noticing the look on the other man’s face. He looks anxious, angry, and concerned all in one. Peter puts the weapon in the pocket of his hoodie and then heads for the window. Jason puts his hands on Peter’s shoulders and hurries him forward practically lifting him through the window that they both know Peter can climb on his own. Peter really wants to ask what Jason’s problem with Batman is. Why is he so determined to keep Peter away from him? 

Once they’re inside Jason pulls a shelf in front of the window and then heads further into the Opera house, Peter wonders if his eyes are that eerie green they get sometimes under his helmet. Peter waits until Jason is out of sight then pulls the weapon back out of his pocket. 

“What is this?” Peter asks.

“I believe it is called a batarang Peter,” Karen says. 

“Batarang?” Peter turns it over in his hand. “Like a boomerang for bats? Well, I guess I gotta appreciate the guy sticking with his theme.” Peter finds a hinge on the batarang and folds it up before putting it in his pocket. It’ll make a fun souvenir at least. 

Jason isn’t able to settle down after that. Peter tries to keep him distracted, dragging him around the Opera house to test the water in the toilets and the showers backstage. The water is working but they can’t manage to get it hot and Peter figures he needs to find the hot water heater and see if it can be fixed or if it needs to be replaced but with how close Jason is to snapping he doubts it's something they can work on right now. 

“I’m going out,” Jason says after a bit. Peter wants to protest. Wants to keep Jason in the Opera house where he can keep an eye on him but it only takes one close look at how tightly Jason is holding himself to know that it's futile. Jason needs to get out and move and Peter did make plans for himself tonight. He’ll be out in the city so if he does his best to listen he could probably keep an eye on Jason’s heartbeat no matter how far apart they are. He’d spent enough time training with Daredevil to really hone his hearing abilities.

“You’ll come back right?” Peter asks. Jason had already started to walk away but he stops at that and turns to look at Peter.

“What?” Jason asks.

“You’ll come back right?” Peter repeats. “It’s just, Don’t be reckless, okay? I know that when your emotions are high it's easy to lose track of things, to not think things through. But this Opera house is kind of creepy and it would be creepier if I was living here alone.” 

“Do you need to stay in Gotham?” Jason asks. 

“Huh? I mean not really. This is just where I ended up.

“Make yourself a go bag. I’ll come back, but we might need to leave Gotham in a hurry if things go wrong.”  

“You’ll take me with you?” 

“If you want.” 

“I… Yeah, I don’t want to be left alone again.” 

“Okay. Go bag.” Jason says before leaving. Peter waits a few minutes and then slumps against a wall. He isn’t sure what just happened but he does really hope that Jason keeps his promise. Peter hasn’t been pushing him about what it is when he goes out but he isn’t an idiot. He’s known that Jason has been getting hurt, that whatever it is he’s doing out there isn’t safe. Jason is all he’s got in this world. Even if they just have a tentative friendship. 

“Karen, Jason’s helmet has technology in it right?” Peter asks as he straightens back up and climbs the wall up to their bedroom box. 

“Yes, it does.”

“Can you connect to it? Keep an eye on him. I don’t want him to know but if you could track him I would feel a lot better.” 

“As long as he is wearing the helmet I should be able to do that,” Karen says. “He does appear to have a communication system attached to the helmet. Would you like to connect to it?” 

“No, not right now,” Peter says. He kneels down next to his bedroll and pulls one of the backpacks from Alfred closer. He makes the go bag like Jason had asked him to. Adding a few different clothing options and some of their essentials as well. He knows that Jason always keeps his own packed so he puts them side by side to be grabbed easily in case of emergency. Then he pulls his spider suit out of his backpack. He hasn’t worn it since his arrival in this world and he’s more than ready to go back to it. 

It doesn’t take long at all for him to get changed out of his regular clothes and into the suit. He makes just a couple of adjustments to be more comfortable once it's tightened around him and instructs the nanobots to integrate with the suit once again forming the golden spider symbol so he can pull his mask on. 

“How are we looking, Karen?” He asks, double-checking his web shooters. 

“Everything is fully functioning Peter, your web fluid supply is running low. I recommend refilling it soon.” 

“That’s the plan, Karen,” He jumps from the balcony, shooting out a web and using it to pull himself up to one of the holes in the roof. He climbs his way out onto the roof and then up to the highest point of the building before looking at the city in front of him. “What are the locations you recommended?” 

“Gotham Academy is the closest school with the supplies you require on hand. However, they do appear to be hosting an event tonight so security will be higher and lead to a greater risk of being seen. Bludhaven School of Science however is currently unoccupied.” 

“Bludhaven it is then. Directions please?” Peter looks over the directions on his HUD and considers his options. He doesn’t have enough web fluid to get himself across Gotham and then over the bridge to Bludhaven so he’ll have to run most of it. But he also needs to keep himself hidden. “Let’s go stealth.” The Nanobots on his chest shift and spread further, turning from gold to black to cover the red on his suit. Once it’s settled Peter bounces in place a few times then runs quickly and dives for the building next door. He rolls once he hits the roof then jumps to his feet and keeps moving across the rooftops. 

It feels good to be out again, to be running and jumping and using his instincts. He does prefer swinging on his webs but Daredevil had been adamant that Peter needed to know how not to rely on them. Made sure that he could move across the roofs with barely a thought. Peter was faster than Daredevil and his spider sense helped him to find the best path to take. It hadn’t taken him long to figure it out and now it was like a second nature. 

“How many vigilantes are out tonight?” Peter asks Karen as he dives through a gap in some scaffolding. 

“The Batman is on the move in Gotham right now. He is currently occupied on the other side of town. It does appear that there is someone called Oracle monitoring the actions in the city. While she does appear to be stationary her system does have access to all security systems in Gotham.” 

“Huh, do you think she’s like Batman’s guy in the chair? Or girl in the chair? I bet a vigilante like Batman definitely does need help to keep track of everything in Gotham.” 

“I do not know that I can access her systems without alerting her to my presence. Though I should be able to give you clear instructions on how to avoid the cameras.”

“Works for me I guess,” He says. Gotham is different from New York. It takes Peter a bit to adjust to the more gothic style of buildings. There are gargoyles and spires and quite a few steepled roofs but once he gets the hang of it it’s actually pretty fun. By the time he reaches Bludhaven, he’s pretty confident he can move across the city just as quickly as he could in New York. 

Bludhaven is a lot like Gotham and somehow different all the same. It’s got a more modern feel to it but the feeling of danger still seems to cling to it. There are a lot of dilapidated buildings and signs of poverty. The buzz of Peter’s spider-sense sticks with him even here, just a dull sense at the base of his neck. The people here are not to be messed with just as much as the people he’s passed in Gotham. He does wonder how these cities got to be like this. How does it get so bad that it takes a vigilante as violent as the reports Karen has pulled about the Batman say he is?

 How are the citizens so used to it that they just don’t seem to care? The other day when he’d run out to get some supplies for his clean up of the Opera house he’d seen a mugging in process and before he could even think about stepping in the person being mugged had pulled out an even bigger knife and demanded that the mugger hand over all of his cash instead. Who does that? Jason had just cracked up laughing when Peter had complained about it to him later. 

Peter lands on the roof of the Bludhaven School of Science and stays low to the ground to make sure he isn’t spotted. He listens carefully but from what he can tell the school is pretty empty except for some very small heartbeats that he figures must belong to class pets or something. There are no humans in the building and he can’t even really hear the hum of a security system. He climbs down the wall on one side to a window and after double checking to make sure he doesn’t miss anything he pushes the window open and climbs inside. It hadn’t even been locked. 

“Peter, according to the school's records the chemistry lab is on the first floor on the north side of the building,” Karen says. He nods his head and leaves the classroom he’d ended up in to head down the hall looking for a staircase to the first floor. Being in a school again makes him miss Midtown more than he thought he ever would. He’d considered getting himself enrolled in a school briefly over the last few days but it would lead to a lot of complications. Schools usually needed to be able to contact a parent or guardian and while he was close enough to eighteen that it shouldn’t really matter he doesn’t want any extra questions about his living arrangements to come up because living in an abandoned Opera house with a crime lord is probably not going to be something the school administration could leave alone. So he’ll just have to fake his graduation, maybe get a GED. He’s pretty sure he could test out of school if he really needed to but he does need some sort of record of education. After all no one here knows that Peter Parker is Spider-man so in theory there should be nothing that stops him from going to college and he wants to continue his education more than anything. There’s even a university right in Gotham and he’s pretty sure he could get himself into it. 

Once he reaches the first floor of the school finding the chemistry lab is no problem at all and Peter finds the chemicals he needs easily enough. They’re locked away in a cabinet and he feels a bit bad about having to break the lock but it is technically a Friday night so if he’s quick enough he can come back and get the lock fixed before school starts again on Monday. With the supplies he needs in hand, he sits down at one of the lab stations and gets to work on refilling his web fluid supply. 

“Peter I have lost the connection with Red Hood’s helmet. It appears that he has removed it,” Karen informs him. Peter eyes the web fluid capsules he’s managed to complete. While he could fill a few more they should get him by for the time being. Especially if he’s coming back to fix the lock. He refills his web shooters and then stashes the extras in the small pouch in his suit that he’d designed for them. He hurries back out the way he came and then hurries towards Gotham. 

“Give me his last location Karen,” Peter lands on a rooftop and looks over the location on the map Karen pulls up for him. It’s not too far. Just on the other side of the water but Peter’s webs won’t stretch far enough for him to get across the water without using the bridge so he’ll need to go out of his way a bit. He hadn’t planned to make himself known as Spider-man tonight but if Jason’s removed his helmet then he could be in trouble and Peter has to help him if he can. 

“Hey,” A voice says as a pair of boots land near silently on the roof. Peter turns from the view of Gotham to take in the man who stands there now. He has on a tight black suit with a blue bird symbol on the front. There are two sticks strapped to his back and pouches on his waist that Peter guesses are full of useful gadgets. 

“Uh, Hi,” Peter says. He glances between the vigilante and Gotham. He doesn’t know for sure but Jason could be in trouble. Peter’s got a feeling that he’s right even if there’s no evidence and with how much he relies on his Spider sense he knows better than to ignore that. 

“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Nightwing,” The vigilante says. He seems casual, and kind. But Peter knows better. He can see the tension in the other man’s body. His relaxed stance is a farce. He’s ready to strike at any moment. 

“Yeah, I think I’ve heard of you,” Peter admits. “It’s uh, nice to see you in person and all but I’m kind of in a hurry so…” Peter takes a step back towards the ledge of the roof. Nightwing holds up a placating hand. 

“You knew around here? What’s your name?” Nightwing asks. Peter can’t see his eyes behind the mask really but his head moves just the slightest bit and Peter guesses that he’s judging the distance between the roof they’re on and the one next to it. It’s not really something that a normal person could make without trouble. Peter thinks that he’s likely thinking that Peter is a kid about to get himself into trouble. 

“Oh, I’m no one important really,” Peter turns to jump and the vigilante moves quickly, making to grab him but before either of them can move much there’s an explosion across the bay in Gotham. It’s close to where Jason’s helmet last was. “Hood!” Peter yells the name without thinking and then he’s on the move. He leaps from the rooftop and shoots out a web heading for the bridge. 

“Hood?” He hears the vigilante say but Peter is too focused. He moves as fast as he can, barely registering the vigilante following him. Peter can’t lose Jason. He can’t lose another person, he can't do it. He can’t. Please don’t let him lose Jason too. Please. 

Peter is halfway across the bridge when his spider-sense screams at him. Danger, danger, danger. He turns to look back up in the sky where a plane is flying too low over Bludhaven. Something big, and almost glowing jumps from the plane and Peter knows something terrible is coming. Something awful. He shoots two webs. One grabbing onto the vigilante behind him and the other on the opposite side of the bridge. He pulls with all his strength launching the both of them clear of the structure. They barely pass it when the bomb goes off. The blast throws Peter and Nightwing forward. Peter manages to hit the building first, leaving a slight crater in the brick. He turns and uses the web stuck to Nightwing to pull the other vigilante to him so he doesn’t hit the building as well. 

“Oh god,” Nightwing says. Peter keeps them stuck to the side of the building. One arm holding Nightwing up. Bludhaven is gone. The entire city is gone. Nothing left but a smoldering crater.  Nightwing has gone limp. Peter takes a deep breath and climbs up to the roof of the building. He’s pretty sure Nightwing is in shock. The vigilante barely registers as Peter deposits him onto the roof. Instead dropping to his knees and staring at what remains of his city. Peter sits next to him. “I… I have to help.” Nightwing tries to get to his feet but his whole body is shaking. Peter reaches up and grabs his arm. 

“There’s… there’s no one to help,” Peter feels sick. “I can hear. I mean… If anyone was alive I would hear.” There’s nothing coming from the ruins of Bludhaven except the crackling of fires. 

“It’s gone,” Nightwing whispers. There’s devastation in his voice, he sways a bit and Peter pulls him back down to sit before he falls off the roof or something. Sure Peter could catch him but it’s better to just avoid the possibility. Peter is really going to throw up. He’s seen a lot in his short life but nothing like this. Nothing this terrible. An entire city is just gone all of those people are gone. 

“Karen,” Peter says with a shaky voice. “How many people live-lived in Bludhaven?” Peter asks. There are sirens and screaming and crying and so much happening all around them but Peter can’t tear his eyes away from the city. 

“The population of Bludhaven New Jersey is approximately five million six hundred sixty thousand.” Five million. Five million people. Five million people are gone in the blink of an eye. Nightwing tilts to the side and throws up. He throws up until there’s nothing left and then he gags. Peter tears his eyes from the city and moves closer to the vigilante. He puts a hand on his back to help steady him.  The vigilante has longer hair and it had been pulled back earlier but the blast must have knocked it loose. Peter holds it back for him while he continues to gag. The back of his suit is warm, singed in places. Peter’s nanobots had moved to help protect his own back but he’s not sure how well they did. He really hopes that the suit has held up. 

“Nightwing! Nightwing!” A woman’s voice is calling. It sounds tinny. Like a phone call. Peter realizes that Nightwing must have a comm in his ear. 

“Karen patch me into his comms,” Peter instructs. He waits until he can hear the woman's calls in his own suit. He thinks about what Karen had said earlier about Oracle, Batman’s suspected chair person. 

“Oracle?” He asks. The woman’s voice pauses for a moment. 

“Who is this?” She demands. 

“I’m a friend, or well not a friend but, anyway, who I am isn’t important. I’ve got Nightwing,” Peter pauses for a second and thinks over his words. “Oh god no wait sorry not like in a bad guy way. I have not kidnapped Nightwing.” The vigilante in question leans back taking deep breaths. 

“I’m okay Oracle,” Nightwing says with a strained voice. He turns his head and looks at Peter. “I was in pursuit of a suspicious individual and we crossed the bridge right before the blast. He saved me, actually. Pulled me out of the blast radius.” Peter brings a hand up and rubs the back of his head. 

“I couldn’t… I wasn’t going to be fast enough to do anything to help,” Peter says softly. “Nightwing was the only person close enough.” People are dead. More than five million people are dead and Peter could only save one. Only one person. 

“Spider-man, Red Hood is back online,’ Karen says. 

“Spider-man?” Nightwing says.

“Red Hood?” Oracle says, their voices overlapping. Peter gets to his feet and takes a few steps away from Nightwing. He looks okay now, or well not okay but he’s not catatonic or anything, the shock seems to be seeping away. Peter’s not entirely sure his is. But Hood is back online and Nightwing is okay. He needs to go. 

“Disconnect Karen,” Peter jumps from the roof before Nightwing can react. He shoots out a web and swings away. He doesn’t hear anything else from the two vigilantes so he figures that Karen must have already done it. As he gets closer to Jason’s last location he focuses on his hearing. Searching through all the heartbeats in the area for the one that he’s gotten used to over the last few days. He spots it, not far away from where the explosion had been earlier, and jumps from a rooftop, landing in the alley where it seems Jason had taken refuge. There’s a very strong smell of smoke, gunpowder, and blood. 

“Red Hood?” Peter calls out. He can see the body of his friend tucked away in the back of the alley against the wall.

“Kid?” Red Hood’s voice is modulated again but Peter is so relieved to hear it. He hurries forward and drops to his knees in front of his friend. 

“Are you okay?” Peter asks. There’s blood, a lot of blood. Mostly coming from Jason’s neck. Peter peels away Jason’s jacket and body armor to look closely at the cut. It’s not terribly deep but if Peter doesn’t stop the bleeding it’s going to be bad. He pulls some gauze out of one of his hidden pockets. “Sorry,” He apologizes before pressing the gauze over the wound. Jason’s body jerks slightly at the pain but he doesn’t pull away. 

“The fuck are you wearing?” Jason asks. 

“Super suit obviously,” Peter says quietly. He uses his webs to hold the gauze in place. He needs to get them back to the Opera house so he can clean the wound properly and maybe stitch it depending on how deep it is.

“Obviously,” Jason says with a huff. He sounds a little annoyed but more tired than anything. 

“I’m gonna have to carry you,” Peter decides. Before Jason can put up a fight Peter pulls him up over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. He shoots a web and pulls them both into the air to swing back towards the Opera house. 

Chapter Text

Jason

Jason wakes with a start, gasping for air. He’d dreamt of his coffin, of starting to suffocate as he screamed for Bruce, for Dick, for Alfred. For anyone to save him from the Joker’s torture. 

“Jason?” Peter appears beside him, reaching out gently to hold Jason’s shoulders. “You shouldn’t move yet.”

“What?” Jason asks, looking around him. He’s in their sleeping box in the Opera house. There is a sharp pain in his neck and his whole body is sore. He squeezes his eyes shut again taking deep breaths as he tries to remember exactly what had happened. He remembers going after Joker, after Bruce. His memories are fractured and the ones that he can make out are tinged in green. 

“I patched you up the best I can but you lost a lot of blood. I’m sorry but I took some of your money and I went and got you real food, and some more medical supplies,” Peter’s voice is a little frantic as he jumps up and runs around gathering things. He’s dressed in sweatpants and Dick’s Superman hoodie, but Jason thinks he remembers the kid finding him in the alley, wearing some kind of skin tight suit. 

“What the fuck were you doing last night?” Jason asks. He ignores Peter’s earlier warning and pushes himself up to a sitting position. It makes his head spin and he has to blink away some spots in his vision. 

“Um… Running errands,” Peter kneels back down next to him with a takeout container of some sort of soup in his hands. Jason eyes him closely. He doesn’t seem to be moving stiffly or anything so he’s probably not injured at least. 

“In spandex?” Jason takes the bowl and sniffs the soup a bit before eating. Peter twists his hands in his lap looking incredibly guilty. 

“It’s more durable than spandex,” Peter insists. Jason groans. 

“Come on, I thought we agreed that you would keep a low profile. Remember? Stay off the Bat’s radar?” Jason tries not to think of the night before. Of his run in with Batman. With the batarang cutting into his neck. What had the outcome been? Was Bruce okay?” 

“Well I didn’t see Batman,” Peter says. But there’s something in his tone of voice and Jason narrows his eyes. 

“Then who did you see?” Jason asks. He picks up the spoon and takes a sip of the soup. It’s pretty good and now that he’s had a bit he realizes how starving he actually is. 

“Nightwing,” Peter admits without a fight at least. Jason’s head hurts and he remembers an explosion. A mushroom cloud. He remembers Batman screaming for Dick. He remembers holding Batman back. 

“You… You saw Nightwing?” Jason asks. 

“Yeah I… My errand was in Bludhaven.” Jason nearly spills his soup as he jerks up and puts it aside. He ignores his own pain and grabs onto Peter. Looking the kid over closely for any injuries. 

“When? How long? You made it out?” Jason asks. Peter grumbles out a complaint as he frees himself from Jason’s grip. 

“I’m fine,” Peter insists, tugging his hoodie back into place. “I finished my errand and ran into Nightwing on the way back. He was gonna ask me questions and I had a feeling you were in trouble so I ran from him. He was chasing me across the bridge when the bomb hit. We both made it. It was close but we made it.” 

“Nightwing made it?” Jason asks. He hadn’t cared last night. The haze of green had been so strong that he hadn’t even cared that his big brother might have died in that blast and he’d stopped Batman from going too. He’d stopped Batman from going to search for another of his son's bodies. Bruce was never going to forgive him after this. Not that Jason cared if Bruce forgave him or not. But still, it had happened. 

“He was okay when I left him,” Peter says. “Do you know Nightwing?” 

“He’s my brother,” Jason says with no thought. Back before his death, he’d fought for Dick’s attention. For the right to be able to call him his brother and now, after everything it’s something he can’t give up. Because he had a dad in Willis Todd, and he’d had a mom in Catherine. But trying to replace Catherine with his birth mom had been a mistake and it was probably a mistake to try to replace Willis with Bruce. Jason didn’t need parents anymore. But he’d never had a brother besides Dick and he didn’t want that to change. 

“You have a brother?” Peter asks with surprise. Jason supposes that he hadn’t really seen that much of the Manor when they’d gone the other day. Though it’s weird that he hadn’t already known. After all, it was clearly Wayne Manor that he’d taken Peter to and everyone knew about Bruce Wayne and his adopted kids. 

“Well yeah,” Jason says. He shifts himself so his back is against the wall as he eyes Peter curiously. “You know the Wayne family don’t you?”

“That’s… Well, Alfred said Wayne Manor when you called right?”

“Yeah, but… Bruce Wayne?” Jason asks. Peter looks at him in confusion.

“I don’t know the name,” He admits. 

“Where are you from?” Jason asks him. Peter’s brows furrow and he crosses his legs. 

“New York.” 

“When?” Jason asks.

“What?” 

“What year is it?” Jason asks. Peter chews his lip considering his answer. He doesn’t have his headphones on right now but they’re hanging around his neck. 

“Twenty twenty-five,” Peter finally answers. 

“It’s Twenty ten,” Jason corrects him. Peter freezes, blinking rapidly. Jason can practically see the gears turning in his head. “When were you born?” 

“Two thousand and one,” Peter answers automatically. 

“You’re a little big for a nine year old. What exactly is going on? The full story this time.” 

“I’m not… This isn’t my world,” Peter admits, shrinking in on himself. “I’m from another universe. I was born in two thousand and one. In twenty eighteen there was this alien attack. This guy Thanos gathered these stones and he won. He won and used the stones to turn fifty percent of the universe's population into ash. I was one of those people. I was sixteen and I died.”

“How long were you dead?” Jason asks. He’d been dead just under a year, and he’d woken up in his coffin. But if they’d been turned to ash then Peter didn’t have a body to be buried. At least he’d managed to avoid that particular trauma. 

“Five years,” Peter fidgets with the strings from his hood. 

“What about your parents?” 

“They died when I was a kid. My mom and dad were in a plane crash and I was raised by my aunt and uncle. Uncle Ben died a few years before but… But Aunt May got snapped like I did. So we were both dead at that time.” 

“What were your parents names?” Jason asks. 

“Richard and Mary Parker,” Peter glances up at him with a confused look. “Why?”

“Why what?” 

“Why did you want to know my parents' names?” Peter looks a bit suspicious and Jason supposes it might be. He’s never been good at being tactful. But the fact that his dad’s name was Richard as well is way too much of a coincidence. Especially with the way the kid moves. Watching him flip his way across the stage the other morning had reminded Jason so much of the days spent training with his brother. 

“You’re still a kid, if you’re from another world then maybe you have parents here too. Couldn’t there be another Peter Parker in this world?” 

“No there’s no Peter here. That's why I was sent. It’s only safe for me to be here because there isn’t another me.” 

“Okay so there’s no Peter but that doesn’t mean there isn’t another version of the people you already know.” 

“It doesn’t matter.” Peter insists. “My luck is bad. Like killer bad. Everyone that gets close to me. Everyone that I love dies. My parents. Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Tony. They’re all gone.” Peter’s fists clench in his lap and Jason can see the pain in his eyes. He wears his emotions on his sleeve just like Dick. 

“I’m not like them,” Jason says. Peter startles and looks at him.

“What?” 

“That’s why you came looking for me last night isn’t it? You thought that I was going to die too.” 

“I… I lost everything Jason,” Peter says. “I lost my family and I… I made mistakes. Stupid reckless mistakes that got people killed and I almost ruined my whole universe. I had to be sent here because my universe was breaking. The only way to fix it was to completely erase me. So… so my world would forget I ever existed and obviously I couldn’t be there for that to happen. That’s why I came here. I was sent here to save my world and I can never go back. Not without breaking it all over again.”

“And you were worried that you were going to lose me too,” Jason concludes. 

“I know that… I know that we’ve only been friends for a few days. We barely know each other. But I came here expecting to be alone, to stay that way. But you found me right away and I feel comfortable with you.” 

“Oh kid,” Jason sighs and brings a hand up to rub his eyes. He’s not going to be able to ditch this kid. But he already has a super suit and he’s an orphan. Just missing the black hair and blue eyes and he’d be perfect but with his similarities to Bruce’s golden child then he wouldn’t stand a chance if Batman decided to take him under his wing. Jason is not going to let that happen to Peter. Even if it means dragging the kid around the country on the run. 

“I’m not a kid,” Peter reminds him. “I’m barely two years younger than you.” 

“Yeah I know,” Jason watches Peter closely. The way he fidgets where he sits, Jason knows exactly what it is he wants. He’s so much like Dick it’s ridiculous. He rolls his eyes and lifts up his arm on his less injured side. “Come on. I know you want to.” Peter perks up and immediately moves closer, tucking himself under Jason’s arm. Jason wraps his arm around Peter’s shoulders and closes his eyes. Peter leans into his side, careful of hurting him more. 

“Are you hurting?” Peter asks. “I got some painkillers.”

“I’ll be fine, I heal fast.” 

“Me too,” Peter admits. 

“So the super suit?” 

“I was a vigilante in my world,” Peter admits. “Spider-man.” 

“Why Spider-man?” 

“I got bit by a spider obviously,” Peter pulls up the sleeve of his stolen hoodie and shows Jason a scar on his wrist, two puncture marks. 

“A spider bite changed you?” 

“Well, it was a radioactive spider. It modified my DNA. I’m like part spider now.” 

“So what do you have besides the strength and the senses? If we’re going to be sticking together I need to know the whole thing.” 

“Well, there’s the strength. I’m not really sure what my exact limit is, to be honest. Tony and I tried to test it but he was too scared to go above 10 tons. My senses are insane sometimes. I can hear for miles and smell like everything anyone has ever touched. It can be a lot sometimes. My vision is great too. I can see a lot further than normal humans. I used to have asthma and I wore glasses before the bite. Now I have this like sixth sense. I call it my spider sense but it’s almost like another entity sometimes. Like a little voice in the back of my head. I can react to things quicker than any human. Even things I don’t see coming.” 

“That’s kinda freaky,” Jason teases. Peter’s whole body shivers as his head drops onto Jason’s chest, his eyes drooping closed. Jason frowns and grabs the kid's wrist, turning it to see the time on his watch. It’s nearly ten in the morning. “Have you slept?” He asks though he’s already pretty sure of the answer.

“Had to make sure you were okay,” Peter mumbles. Jason lets out a long sigh and brings his hand up to card his fingers through Peter’s hair. Peter melts at the touch and in a matter of seconds, he’s out like a light. Jason stays still for a while to make sure that Peter is deep enough asleep before he reaches into the kid's pocket and pulls his phone out. When Jason had used Peter’s phone before he’d thought it was weird that it was so high tech but now knowing that Peter is not only from another universe but from the future it makes more sense. He tries to turn the screen on when a circle appears on the screen.

“Hello Red Hood,” A female voice says quietly. Jason frowns at it. 

“Who is this?” He asks. 

“My name is Karen. I am an artificial intelligence designed by Tony Stark to assist Peter.” 

“Artificial intelligence?”

“Yes.” 

“So what can you do?” 

“I can do a lot of things.”

“Like being cryptic apparently,” Jason sighs. 

“My design is to assist Peter. You are not Peter,” She reminds him. It? She? Jason’s a little weirded out by how personable the AI seems to be. Though he supposes he shouldn’t be too surprised after what he’s seen working with Batman. 

“No I suppose not, but why are you talking to me then?” 

“Peter has chosen to trust you. Therefore you may assist me in my duties.”

“Oh great so a robot wants to boss me around.” 

“I am an artificial intelligence, I do not have a body and therefore cannot be considered a robot. I believe that our relationship can be mutually beneficial.” 

“How’s that?” Jason asks. The screen changes from the circle that he assumed was probably supposed to represent the A.I to show a video. He realizes after a few seconds that there must be a camera in Peter’s suit. He watches as Peter swings through Bludhaven and across the bridge. The camera view spins around about halfway across and focuses on the plane and the creature jumping from it for less than a second before locking onto Nightwing who had been swinging after him on a grapple. A web shoots out from the device on Peter’s wrist and hits Nightwing in the chest before pulling him forward. Jason’s grip tightens on his phone as he watches Peter barely manage to pull Nightwing clear of the blast and then up onto the roof of the building. He watches as his brother breaks down over the loss of his city.

The guilt gnaws away inside of him as he watches. Dick had nearly died. If Peter hadn’t made the decision to travel to Bludhaven then Dick would have still been in the city. He would have been dead and Jason had stopped Batman from going to him. He’d been so consumed by the pit madness and by his own pain that he hadn’t even stopped to think about how close they had come to losing Dick. 

“I’m okay Oracle,” Nightwing says. “I was in pursuit of a suspicious individual and we crossed the bridge right before the blast. He saved me, actually. Pulled me out of the blast radius.”

The video cuts off then and Jason makes himself take a deep breath. Dick is okay. Dick is alive. 

“You connected to his comms?” Jason asks.

“Yes I was able to do that,” Karen says. “Peter also had me connected to your helmet last night. I am able to track you and facilitate communication between the two of you at any time.” 

“That’s convenient… Can you get in touch with any phone?” 

“Yes, the technology of this world is far behind that of my own. I have dealt with much more advanced technologies.” 

“I didn’t know that A.I’s could brag.” 

“I did not know Crime Lords could care,” Karen sasses back. Jason snorts out a laugh at that and winces when his ribs are jostled too much. 

“Can you call Dick Grayson for me?” He asks. The circle reappears on the screen, flashing once then twice before the call screen appears. Jason raises the phone to his ear. 

“Hello,” Dick’s voice is a little rough, forced cheer in it. Jason takes a deep breath. How long has it been since he properly heard his brother’s voice? 

“Guess nothing really keeps you down huh Dickiebird,” Jason says. There’s silence on the other end of the line. Jason waits for the inevitable hang up, but it never comes. 

“What did you call me?” Dick chokes out. “That’s not…. Who is this?” Jason frowns. Bruce knows who he is now. Alfred knows who he is now. Does Dick not know? Did Bruce not tell Dick about his suspicions?

“You don’t recognize my voice?”

“This is… This is cruel.” Dick snaps. 

“You met a little spider last night,” Jason says. 

“Spider-man?” Dick asks. Jason looks down at the boy slumped against his side. Asleep like this he looks even younger than he actually is, Spider-man might be a bit generous of a name but then again Jason hadn’t had a lot of great ideas for his own name either. He’d been forced to stick with Robin

“That’s the one,” Jason says. 

“Is he okay?” 

“What do you care?” Jason isn’t sure what he made this call for. Partially to really confirm that Dick was okay after Bludhaven, partially to find out if he had any plans against Peter. He knows that Batman wouldn’t stand for an obviously meta vigilante operating in Gotham without being a total control freak about it. Jason is not going to let the Bat get his hands on Peter. But he doesn’t know what Dick thinks about it, does Dick plan to rat Peter out? Do they need to run? Can he trust his brother?

“He seemed… Young,” Dick says cautiously. “Too young to be running around in a suit on his own.”

“Oh, what are you gonna do? Hand him over to daddy bats to be trained as more Joker bait?” Jason has to try to force the green down, he focuses on his fingers in Peter’s hair. He cannot lose control right now. Not while Peter is trusting him to keep him safe. 

“The Joker will never. Never lay a hand on my brothers again,” Dick snaps, violence in his voice. Jason almost believes him. 

“The Spider is not your brother. He is under my protection and you and that bat bastard will stay away from him if you don’t want to end up in my next duffle bag.” 

“Red Hood,” Dick says. 

“Took you long enough,” Great detective Jason’s ass. 

“There was a voice on Spider-man’s comms last night that mentioned you. Who are you guys working with?” 

“Maybe the Bat is the one you should be interrogating right now Dickiebird. Why don’t you ask him about the man under the Hood,” Jason hangs up the phone and slips it back into Peter’s pocket. 

“Who’s that?” Peter asks, his voice muffled against his shirt.

“My brother,” Jason answers. 

“We should clean up if he’s coming to visit,” Peter says. 

“He’s not coming here. It’s haunted, remember, no one comes here. Besides I’m not in any condition to clean and you need a full day's sleep. Come on, go to your sleeping bag. Put your headphones on so I don’t wake you.” Peter grumbles but he does as he’s told, moving over to his own sleeping bag and flopping down, he even remembers to pull his headphones up over his ears before going back to sleep. Jason braces himself for the pain and then gets to his feet. He leaves the box heading for the closest of the bathrooms. 

His head is throbbing with the effort of keeping the pit madness at bay. He doesn’t know what to do next. Doesn’t know what the pit madness will make him do next. His plans had all gone way off the rail. Bruce knows who he is now. Bruce knows that the red hood is Jason. Jason who used to be his son. But if Jason is no longer Bruce’s son then who is he? Is he just the Red Hood now? Should he give up completely on Jason Todd?

He turns on the sink and bends down to splash cold water onto his face. Relishing in the sting of the nearly icy water. He keeps thinking over his conversation with Dick. Something Dick had said keeps replaying in his head. He’d said brother’s plural. Had the Joker done something else? Was it the replacement? Had Bruce really let the Joker go after his replacement after Jason had died? Why was Joker still alive? Why was Bruce so adamant that the Joker had to live?

Jason stands up straight and pushes his hair out of his face, he looks in the broken mirror over the sink. He eyes the white shock of hair on his temple, his eyes once blue but now settled into a sort of teal color when the pit madness wasn’t turning them full on green. His gaze traces along one of the scars on his face and he wonders if it came from his time with the league or if it was left over from the Joker’s attack. 

The replacement’s room at the manor had been bare. Jason’s thought about it a few times since their visit to the manor. Why had the Replacement's room been empty? He splashes his face one more time then heads down to the orchestra pit where his computer is waiting. His system is nowhere near the set up that Oracle and the bats have but it should do enough. He sits in the chair and gets to work. 

A few hours later he has all the information he needs, and he wants to smash Bruce’s face in even more than he did before. Tim Drake was the current Robin just like Talia had told Jason. But he wasn’t adopted by Bruce. Bruce didn’t even have custody of him. But that hardly mattered. The Drake’s hadn’t been back in the country in months now. They hadn’t even noticed the two months that their son had been taken. Taken by the Joker and experimented on. Batman had gotten the boy back. He’d gotten him treated for the Joker toxin. 

The boy was still supposedly living with the Drakes. Except according to what Jason could find he’d mostly been residing at the Titan’s tower since his recovery. What the hell were Bruce and Dick doing letting the boy be on his own? Jason had been fifteen when he died and according to what he can find Tim had been thirteen when he took up the Robin mantle. He was just Sixteen now. Younger even than Peter. 

Jason stands up from the chair and stretches himself out a bit. His muscles are stiff but he’s clearly healing. It shouldn’t take too much more time before he’s fully ready to go. He’d only met the replacement once, months ago when he’d first made his return to Gotham and had tried to trick Bruce in the graveyard. But he had a feeling now that it was time for the Red Hood to make a wellness check. 

“Peter,” Jason calls the other teen as he makes his way back up to the box. Peter props himself up on his elbows and looks towards Jason with bleary eyes. 

“Wassup?” Peter asks. Jason considers him, it will probably take him a while to get to Jump City and back to check on the kid. 

“You want to go on a road trip?” He asks. Peter sits up properly. 

“A road trip where?” 

“Jump City.” 

“Where’s that? I don’t think we have a Jump city in my world,” Peter hops to his feet 

“California,” Jason grabs his helmet and his backpack from where they sit ready to go. 

“How are we getting to California? Do we have to drive? I don’t think your motorcycle would be very comfortable all the way there,” Peter gets his own backpack and puts it on then bends down to pull on his shoes. When he bends Jason sees the neckline of his super suit peek out from under his hoodie. At least he’s prepared right now. 

“We’re going to steal a jet,” Jason grins.

Chapter Text

Jason

Jason is honestly a little concerned with how easy it had been to take the Batplane. It’s extremely out of character for Bruce to not be insanely paranoid and the fact that he was able to access the Batplane with the credentials from before he’d died is suspicious. Especially after everything that had happened the night Bludhaven blew up. Maybe he was still in denial. Either way, Jason’s able to start a riot on the east end to distract Batman and Nightwing and while they’re busy Jason steals the jet. 

“This is so cool!” Peter says for probably the tenth time in the last hour they’d been flying. Jason had insisted they both change into their suits in case anyone decides to intercept them but it had been smooth sailing so far, or rather smooth flying. 

“You never flew in a jet in your world?” Jason asks. 

“Not like this,” Peter says. “Before Mister Stark took me on I’d never even flown in a normal plane and he usually just flew me anywhere in his private plane. He had a quinjet too but that was only for Avenger’s missions and I turned down the invite to be an Avenger so I didn’t get to ride in it.”

“What the fuck kind of name is quinjet?” 

“Oh yeah cause the Batplane is so original.” 

“Also what are the Avengers?” 

“A team of heroes who come together to save the world in times of great need.” 

“Oh, we call ours the Justice League.” 

“Lame.”

“Yeah because Avenger’s is so much better. Why are you avenging shit? Just stop it from happening first.”

“I’d argue with you but your point is kind of valid.” 

“Of course it is, dumb ass hero names.”

“What do all the buttons do? Does this thing have an owner's manual?”   

“Hack into the Batcomputer and it’s all yours,” Jason says with a laugh. 

“I can do that,” Peter says. He reaches for a button on the console and Jason has to smack his hand away. “Wait, is it actually called the batcomputer? Is everything just called bat something?” 

“Pretty much,” 

“I can appreciate sticking to a theme but that just seems like way too much.”

“That’s what happens when you let a twelve year old name everything,” Jason lands the jet just outside of Jump City. It’s nearing three in the morning on the west coast. Despite the late hour Peter seems to be wide awake at least. Jason had made him sleep while he’d prepared the distraction riot and he’d dozed a bit on the flight over as well. 

“So what exactly are we doing here?” Peter asks. 

“Wellness check,” Jason unstraps from his seat and hops out of the jet. He hears Peter grumble a bit as he figures out how to unstrap himself and then the Spider themed vigilante lands beside him. 

“On?” Peter asks. 

“Robin.” 

“Like Batman’s sidekick Robin?” Jason heads into the city, remembering his way around thanks to the visits he’d made with Dick back in the day. 

“Exactly.” 

“Why is he in Jump City and not with Batman?” 

“Because Batman is an idiot and thinks teenage vigilantes need space to make their own and learn to lead or some shit. The Titans were established by the first Robin, now Nightwing. They operate out of New York. The current Robin leads the Titans here in Jump City. If he’s not in Gotham with the Bat then he’s out here living in the tower with a bunch of other wannabe teen heroes.” 

“You’re literally still a teenager yourself, so am I for that matter,” Peter says jogging a bit to keep up with his longer stride. 

“Dying makes you older,” Jason says. He leads Peter down an alley and to a phone booth. Peter looks at the phone booth curiously. 

“Why is this here?” he asks. 

“Because no one can have an original idea anymore. This thing is called a zeta tube. It’s basically a teleportation device. The Justice League uses them to travel all around the world. They sooo graciously allow the Titans to use them. This one is a direct line to the Titan’s tower.” 

“So are they gonna like, be happy to see us?” Peter asks. 

“Probably not, you know, crime lord and all.” 

“Yeah. I know that your beef with Batman is personal or whatever but you’re not gonna hurt Robin right? Like you said yourself you’ve got a rule against kids. This is just a wellness check?” 

“I don’t hurt kids,” Jason assures him. “The shitheads in Gotham know that the kids are under my protection. Doesn’t matter who’s kid they are.” 

“So we’re breaking into the base of a bunch of super-powered teenagers and they’re not expecting us.” 

“Correct,” Jason steps into the booth and pulls Peter in after him. It’s a tight fit for both of them and Jason has to try hard not to think about the last time he was shut in such a small space. He’s counting on his codes still working the way they had with the Batplane and there’s no way to get Peter into the tower if they don’t travel together. 

“How many are we going against?” 

“If the records are correct then the only people currently in residence at the tower are Robin, who has no powers but is trained in most martial arts, and Wonder Girl, basically a demigod. She’s got super strength and occasionally lightning. Also, her lasso is a bitch so don’t let her catch you with it. Superboy, he’s a clone of Superman. Kryptonian. Basically indestructible, unfortunately. Though you might be able to hold him off with your strength.” 

“Wait, he's an actual clone?” 

“Yep, the last one there should be Speedy. Despite the name, she does not actually have speedster powers. She’s an archer.” 

“Okay, so what am I supposed to be doing while you do your ‘wellness check’?” 

“Keep the other super brats from interrupting me.” 

“Okay cool cool,” Peter nods his head. Jason resists the urge to laugh at his false bravado and puts in the codes to the tower. 

“Accepted,” A voice says. “Robin, B-02 and guest.” and just like that they’re transported directly into the tower. The tower is silent when they step out of the Zeta tube. Jason moves quickly to the security room just across the hall and is glad that Peter sticks close to him without the need to be told. 

“It said Robin,” Peter whispers once they’re enclosed in the security room. Jason moves to a panel against the wall and starts typing in codes. Jason can see Peter moving about the room looking at all the devices that secure the tower out of the corner of his eye. 

“I stole the kid's codes,” Jason lies. 

“Is that how you stole Batman’s plane too?” There’s something in Peter’s voice and Jason is pretty sure the kid has found him out. 

“Yep.” 

“So then why did that teleporter thing register me as a guest and not you?” Peter asks. 

“Kid if you have a question just ask it.” 

“I’m not like a detective or anything,” Peter says. “But you kinda have a super personal beef with Batman, and you said that Nightwing was your brother. Karen seems to think that Nightwing was the first Robin. Batman’s first partner, and well most people wouldn’t let their kid run around with a strange man in a Bat costume so it makes the most sense that Nightwing is probably Batman’s son and if Nightwing is both Batman’s son and your brother then you must also be Batman’s son. I think maybe the teleporter called you Robin because that’s who you used to be.”  

The green roars to life in Jason’s veins. He grips onto the counter in front of him tightly. Batman’s son. Peter called him Batman’s son. He turns quickly to look at the other vigilante. The rage builds inside him. Making him want to fight. To destroy. He thinks of his original plan for the replacement. The pain he wants to cause him, to cause Batman. 

“I am no one's son.” Jason bites out. He needs Peter to get away from him. To get out of this room. To get the damn replacement somewhere safe before Jason does something he’ll regret. 

“Jason,” Peter says his name gently, holding up his hands to show he means no harm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was such a sore subject. I won’t ask again.” Peter is taking slow even breaths. Exaggerating the movement for Jason’s benefit. He tries to match his own to it but he can’t think straight. 

Everything is green green green. Jason can’t think. Can’t breathe through the green rage that washes over him. Consuming him. This was a mistake. Coming here was a mistake. 

“Get the replacement away from me.” Jason snaps. It’s all he can say. The only warning he can give. He prays that Peter understands as his hands itch for the guns strapped to his thighs. The tire iron strapped to his back. Peter nods just once, and then he runs. Jason lets his anger out in a roar as he smashes a hand into the security panel, setting off every alarm in the place in the process.

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter bolts from the security room as alarms begin to blare. He’s stupid so stupid he should have waited til they got back to their Opera house before he’d asked such questions. But Peter had always been too curious for his own good and once his mind had made the connection he couldn’t keep the question in. 

“Karen,” He calls to her over the siren of the alarm. Red lights flash brightly and Peter flips through several lens options before finding one that makes the lights less harsh. 

“I’m ready Peter,” Karen replies. 

“Get me into this tower’s systems I need to know what it can do. Silence those alarms so I can hear straight. But don’t turn them off completely. If they’re sending out a distress beacon then let it. I don’t know what Jason can do.” He reaches what must be the center of the tower, there’s a long open staircase that leads up to the top wrapped around what is probably an open elevator. 

“Who are you!?” a girl's voice demands. Peter’s spider sense goes off and he flips backward, avoiding an arrow that he’s pretty sure had been aimed at his head. He looks up the staircase to see a teenage girl in mostly pajamas with a red mask hastily shoved on over her eyes. 

“I’m not the threat,” Peter yells to be heard over the noise. “Where is Robin?” The alarm stops finally though the red lights continue to flash and Peter sends a silent thank you to Karen. He steps to the side as the sound of a gun goes off. It would have only hit his arm. Peter’s thankful that despite whatever sort of problem Jason’s having he’s still in enough control to not go for a killing blow. 

“What’s going on?” Another voice calls from further up the stairs. This one is a boy.

“There’s no time for this!” Peter moves quickly to the center of the staircase and instead of trying to figure out how the elevator works he shoots a web straight up to the top of the tower and yanks himself up. He grabs the girl with the bow on the way as Red Hood finally comes into view. 

“What the fuck,” The boy curses. Peter considers grabbing him but the boy's feet aren’t actually touching the stairs so he figures it's fine. Instead, he tosses the girl to her teammate and then swings over to the floor beside them. He lands in a crouch ready to move at a moment's notice. 

“Where is Robin?” He asks again. “Red Hood is coming for him. We need to get him out of this tower.” 

“The Tower’s security system will stop him.” The girl insists. 

“No it won’t,” Karen is quickly working to override the tower's security and to take away Jason’s access but whoever set this up did a damn good job and even the AI is struggling a bit. The two teens in front of him are clearly not going to be much help. The girl has another arrow prepped and aimed at him but they’re both in their pajamas and clearly have just been woken up and if Peter’s senses aren’t wrong the girl has wounds under her pajamas. They must have returned recently from a mission. Injured and tired can they stand up to Jason even with their powers? “Speedy, Superboy.” They both snap their eyes to him and he’s glad he got them right from Jason’s quick descriptions. 

“Who are you?” Superboy asks. 

“My name is Spider-man, but that’s not important right now. There’s something wrong with Red Hood and he’s going to go after Robin. Where is he?” 

“He was in the infirmary when we went to sleep,” Speedy says. 

“Shit okay, I need you guys to hold off Red Hood. I don’t know what’s going on with him but this isn’t like him. I don’t think he’ll try to seriously injure you but he might incapacitate you.” 

“Who is Red Hood?” Superboy asks. 

“Batman with guns. Karen get me to the infirmary,” As soon as the directions appear on his HUD he takes off. While they might be tired and a little disoriented he has to trust that these teens know how to take care of themselves. He’s the last person who would ever underestimate someone based on their age and if they’re operating as a superhero team then obviously someone trusts their judgment. 

According to the building plan that Karen was able to access the infirmary is on one of the upper floors so Peter moves quickly up the stairwell thankful that he doesn’t run into any of the other fighters. He can hear distantly as Superboy seems to be updating them on the situation. Then there’s the sound of fighting. Peter really hopes that they can hold off Jason. He doesn’t hear anything from Robin though. The only male voice is Superboy. So is there something that is wrong with the kid? 

Peter bursts through the doors to the infirmary and slides to a stop. A teenage boy is sitting on one of the beds, he’s still mostly in his costume though it’s clear he took a pretty good beating during whatever fight they’d had earlier. Peter guesses that he’s probably pretty close to his own age and while he looks scrawny Peter knows not to judge a book by its cover. His pale skin and the giant bags under his eyes are pretty telling though. He’s sitting cross legged on top of the bed with a laptop on his lap and a concerningly large coffee cup in one hand as he rapidly types on the keyboard. 

“Robin?” Peter asks. The teen's eyes snap up and he’s on his feet in an instant, a staff in one hand and still holding his coffee in the other. 

“You’re the one hacking into my system,” The teen accuses. 

“Sorry, that’s my AI. I needed her help to get to you.” 

“Why me? Who sent you?” 

“Red Hood,” Peter says. The teen freezes at that for a moment. 

“Red Hood is in Gotham.”

“Red Hood is downstairs hopefully not doing too much damage on his way to you.” 

“Who are you?” Robin jumps off the bed and keeps his staff pointed at Peter. Karen scans over the staff, pointing out where it’s been electrified and Peter really hopes he’s not going to get electrocuted tonight. 

“I’m Spider-man, just moved to Gotham.” 

“If you’re from Gotham then what are you doing all the way here in Jump City?” 

“It was supposed to be a wellness check but I asked the wrong question. I’m really sorry about that and now I would very much like to get you out of here before Hood catches up to us. I’m pretty sure I can calm him down but not until you’re out of reach.” 

“What does he want with me?” 

“Batman probably,” Peter holds up his hands. He can hear the fight getting closer. The other heroes aren’t making as much noise anymore but he can at least still hear their heartbeats. “Can we access the roof from here?” 

“The roof?” Robin’s eyes scan over Peter. Taking in his suit and probably weighing his words. It’s obvious that there is someone else in the tower besides him. 

“I have a plan if we can get up to the roof,” Peter explains. 

“What is your connection to Red Hood?” 

“It’s complicated. We’re friends, or roommates or something. But that doesn’t matter right now. He’s not in control and if I let him hurt you right now he’s going to hate himself.” 

“Not in control?” 

“He hasn’t told me what it is. Look we’re running out of time I’ll answer all your questions later but we really have to get to the roof,” Peter weighs his options. They need to move fast. He can see now that the vent in this room goes directly up to the roof and both he and Robin are small enough to fit through it. But Robin isn’t going to go with him if he doesn’t think he can be trusted, and Peter’s not clueless. He’s seen the way Jason looks at him sometimes. He saw the surprise on Alfred’s face when he’d first removed his helmet. 

Something about Peter reminds them of someone and hopefully, it’ll do the same for Robin. He reaches up and pulls his mask off, stuffing it into a pocket so he doesn’t lose it. Thankfully his reveal has the desired effect. Robin startles at the sight of his face. 

“Dick?” He asks. It doesn’t sound like he’s trying to be insulting so Peter assumes it’s probably a name. 

“My name is Peter,” He says, going over to the vent and using a web to pull it down. The screws will be ruined but something tells him they’ll be able to fix it up with no problem. “Can you climb or do I need to pull you up?” 

“I can climb,” Robin takes a long drink of his coffee before setting the mug down and shrinking his staff down to attach to his belt. Peter cups his hands to give him a boost and the teen looks a bit put off by the gesture but from what Peter can see of his injuries he’s probably going to need the help. He puts his boot in Peter’s hands and nearly loses his balance for a second when Peter lifts him up too fast. 

“Sorry,” Peter gets out. He watches as Robin climbs for a bit, then jumps up and follows behind him. 

“Are you meta?” Robin asks, his voice echoing back. 

“Yes.” 

“How?”

“Spider.”

“Thus the spider theme?” 

“Yep.” 

“How did you hack my tower? I couldn’t keep you out.”

“My AI. Her name is Karen.” 

“You have an AI?” Robin’s voice is filled with excitement and he nearly slides back in his attempt to look at Peter. Peter grabs the other teen's foot once again and pushes him further forward. 

“Yes. I’ll show you later if we get out of here in one piece.” 

“Alright alright give me a second.” There’s a loud crash as Robin knocks the vent on the other end out of place and then he disappears from Peter’s sight as he climbs out onto the roof. Peter follows him quickly and looks around. The roof is long and thankfully mostly flat. There’s a helipad on one end and he hopes that means whatever help comes for the teens will be able to travel quickly. 

Robin is ready for him when he comes up. His staff is back in his hands and it’s clear that he’s ready to fight. Peter stands up straight, keeping his body relaxed despite the danger his spider sense tells him is coming. 

“I’m not here to fight you,” Peter says. He pulls his mask from his pocket and pulls it back on. 

“You’ve admitted to your association with Red Hood. Why should I believe you?” 

“You can doubt my intentions all you want after we get through this okay?” Peter holds out his hand. “For now let's work together. Deal?” Robin eyes him warily but does reach out and shake his hand quickly before taking a few steps back. 

“So what’s your great plan then?” He asks. 

“We can get off this roof faster and safer than Red Hood can. I’m going to try to calm him down but if I can’t then I can lower you down with my webs and you can get away.” 

“Your webs?” Robin says, sounding a bit judgemental. Peter narrows his eyes at the other boy.

“Yes webs,” Peter shoots one out as an example and Robin looks extremely interested when he spots the web shooters on Peter’s wrists. 

“They don’t come out of you?” He asks.

“No, but I have a friend who does actually have spinnerets.” 

“There’s more of you?”

“Not in this world.” 

“I have so many questions.” 

“Ask them later,” Peter dives forward, grabbing onto Robin and rolling them safely out of the way as an explosion blasts a hole in the roof of the tower. He makes sure to take the brunt of it himself, still unsure exactly how injured Robin is. 

“Hey Replacement,” Red Hood growls as the smoke from the explosion clears away. He’s standing on the roof now, barely even looking worse for wear after getting through Robin’s teammates. 

“My team,” Robin says, getting to his feet. Peter stands between the two, he closes his eyes and listens for their heartbeats. He spots the same three as before but now there is a fourth heartbeat in the building as well. An adult who is quickly moving up. Help is already here. 

“They’re okay,” Peter says. “I can hear them. Unconscious probably but not dying.” 

“Move Spider,” Red Hood orders. Peter crouches down ready to fight. He doesn’t want to hurt Jason but he can not let him get to Robin. 

“You don’t want to do this Red Hood. You’ve got to fight it.” 

“I said move!” Jason yells. Peter slips off one of his web shooters and tosses it back to Robin. He’s got the feeling the teen will figure out how to work it if he has a couple of minutes and if he uses the same grappling hook that Peter’s seen Jason and Nightwing using then it won’t be too much of a difference. He just needs to buy time. 

“Make me,” Peter taunts before launching himself forward. Fighting Red Hood reminds him a bit of training with Daredevil. Both vigilantes use a mixture of martial arts but rely pretty heavily on their fists and their weight. Peter’s much different. His slim build and flexibility lead to a much more fluid fight. He does his best to keep mostly out of Red Hood’s reach, jumping and flipping and using his legs to push Jason back away from the edge where Robin still stands. 

Jason doesn’t want to actually hurt either of them. Peter can tell that he’s not fully into the fight. He’s holding back and he hasn’t touched any of his weapons. Peter catches his fist as Jason throws a punch and uses his strength to hold on tight. 

“You don’t want to do this,” He says. 

“I can’t,” Jason manages to get out. 

“I’m not going to let you,” Peter promises him. He drops his body down, using his strength to flip Jason over his head and slamming him down onto the roof. 

“Knock me out,” Jason orders him. Peter hates the idea of it. It’ll put them at a disadvantage. He’s down a web shooter and while it's no problem for him trying to swing one armed with Jason’s not insignificant weight will slow him down. But he can’t let Batman get them and the backup is going to be on the roof any second. He flips Jason onto his stomach and pins the larger teen's arm behind his back to hold him in place. 

“Sorry,” Peter says before knocking his hand into Jason’s helmet. The red cracks just a bit at the force and Jason stops struggling against him. Peter hopes he judged his strength right. 

“Robin!” Nightwing yells as he leaps through the hole Jason has left and lands on the roof. 

“Nightwing?” Robin calls back. Peter gets to his feet, gently turning Jason back over. He debates whether or not he should try to retrieve his web shooter. Nightwing runs over to Robin and grabs the teen's shoulders, moving him this way and that to check all of his injuries.

“Did he hurt you?” Nightwing asks a bit frantically. Peter gets to his feet. 

“No I’m fine,” Robin pushes the older vigilante’s hands away, looking annoyed at the attention. The scene tugs at something in Peter. Reminding him of Ned’s worried checks whenever he was late to one of their hangouts. Brothers, for sure. Jason’s brothers. 

“You’re injured,” Another voice says from further down the roof. Peter startles when he sees the black cloaked figure moving towards them. He hadn’t even registered Batman’s arrival. His spider sense hadn’t even warned him. 

“It was from our mission before,” Robin explains. Then he turns his gaze to Peter. “Spider-man stopped him from getting to me.” The adults immediately turn to Peter and then to Jason’s body on the ground. Batman’s jaw tenses. 

“Spider-man,” Nightwing says. “Fancy seeing you again.” 

“Seems this is the second time you’ve been in the right place to save one of mine,” Batman says. His voice is modulated into a growl like Jason’s is in the helmet and Peter really really wishes they’d pick something that wasn’t so grating to his sensitive hearing. 

“This was my fault,” Peter admits. “I pushed Hood too hard and he lost control.” This is Jason’s family. His brothers and his father. Do they know that it’s Jason beneath the helmet? Do they even know that Jason’s come back from the dead? Alfred knows, surely he’s told them. But Nightwing looks ready to attack the second Jason so much as twitches and Robin still has a tight grip on his staff. 

“Leave him with us and we’ll make sure that he can’t hurt anyone else,” Batman says. Peter frowns at that and shuffles back a little closer to Jason. 

“No, I’m sorry but I’m taking responsibility for him. He didn’t do this on purpose. He told me to make sure he didn’t hurt Robin. So that’s what I did.” 

“He did?” Batman asks. Peter doesn’t know what decision to make. Jason had seemed fond when he talked about Nightwing. He seemed to soften a bit. But the mention of Batman always made him tense. Made him angry. What had the Bat done to Jason to make him react that way? Peter keeps his eyes on them as he steps back over Jason’s body and kneels down to lift him over his shoulder once again. 

“Of course he did,” Peter snaps at him. “He wouldn’t do this if he had a choice. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone.” 

“He’s a criminal,” Nightwing says. “He’s killed a lot of people already.” 

“It’s not his choice to do those things,” Peter stands up straight. His gaze goes to Robin and the web shooter hanging loosely on his wrist. Robin follows his gaze. Peter curses himself for giving it away. He can get by with one but it won’t be anywhere near as easy to move especially carrying Jason and with Batman here will he even be able to use the Jet to get Jason home? 

“Give him to us,” Batman orders. Peter tightens his hold on Jason and backs towards the edge of the roof. 

“Spider-man,” Nightwing says nervously. 

“Karen?” Peter whispers. “Can you get that Jet here to pick me up? Can you keep them from taking it back?”

“Yes Peter, I can do that. The Jet will pass over in thirty seconds.” 

“Thank god,” Peter sighs. He’s going to have to give the web shooter up. From their brief interaction tonight he feels like he and Robin might be kind of similar and if that’s the case then there’s no way that the teen won’t be able to figure out the web shooter. Its connection to Karen could even lead him back to Peter. He should sever the connection but… Well, they’re Jason’s family and while Batman may be a bossy asshole Jason had seemed concerned enough about Robin that their relationship can’t be that bad. Maybe Peter can use that to his advantage. Maybe Robin can help Peter help Jason. 

“He’ll be safe with us,” Nightwing promises. 

“Sorry,” Peter says. He shoots a web up as the jet passes overhead and lets himself be yanked off the roof after it. It’s a bit annoying to climb one handed but he manages to get himself and Jason up to the plane and the windows open so they can both tumble inside. 

“Is that your Jet!?” Peter faintly hears Robin’s voice yell before the windows slide closed once again. Peter drops to the floor his body a tangle of limbs with Jason and can’t help but laugh a bit hysterically. That was a total cluster fuck. 

Chapter Text

Tim

Tim sits cross legged on a table in the Batcave stewing in annoyance as he watches Bruce and Dick argue back and forth. Honestly, he’s feeling a little homicidal himself at this point after the way the two reacted once Spider-man had left with Red Hood. They’d barely even let Tim stay at the tower long enough to take care of his own team! He didn’t need them hanging around babysitting him like that. They should have just gone after the jet. 

Spider-man had been right about the team. Red Hood had taken them out of commission but he hadn’t actually left any lasting damage on them. Kon had been caught in Kryptonite cuffs (Tim very much would like to know how the hell the crime lord had gotten ahold of those), Cassie was tied up in her own lasso, and Speedy had been locked in a closet. They were a little miffed about being beaten in their own base but otherwise unharmed. As soon as Tim had finished making sure of that, Nightwing and Batman sent everyone back to their mentors with the strict instructions that they were not to return until the security breach had been researched. 

Tim glanced over at Nightwing and Batman. They were both half out of their costumes at this point arguing about the new Spider-man guy and whether or not he could be trusted. Batman of course trusted no one and wanted the Spider captured and brought into custody. Nightwing wanted to track him down and just ask him a few friendly questions. Tim had a headache, and as he glanced at the black band on his wrist, a plan formed. He just needed something to distract Bruce and Dick with for long enough that he could do some work on his own. 

“I think we should trust him,” Tim calls out to the two. Both men stop and turn to look at him. Tim picked up his computer from the table beside him. They’d both warned him away from using it because of the concussion he’d gotten during his mission but really neither of them was a prime example of taking proper care of himself and Tim wasn’t about to be bullied into self care by a bunch of hypocrites. 

“Did he say something else to you?” Nightwing asks. Bruce just grunts and crosses his arms. 

“He showed me,” Tim says. He loads the footage from his mask camera onto the computer and then broadcasts it to the Batcomputer screen. They all turn to watch it. Tim decided to start with the scene on the roof.

All three of them watch as the Red Hood bursts onto the roof in an explosion. As Spider-man (with his mask back on because the last thing Dick needs right now is a clone crisis) wraps himself around Tim to keep him from being hurt. The way that the Spider places himself between the two and seems to insist that he can calm Red Hood down but when that doesn’t work he fights him. He fights him in a very very familiar way as he twists and flips and bends in ways that a normal human being should not be able to do. But they watch the Red Hood the closest. Because the Red Hood fights the way that Batman fights but he’s very clearly pulling his punches. Even the attacks that hid the Spider barely even move him and of course the most obvious thing about it is that not once does Red Hood reach for a weapon. 

“What the fuck is that?” Dick asks when Tim pauses the recording. 

“I don’t know,” Tim shrugs. “But from what I could tell Red Hood had upwards of thirty weapons on his body and only once did he fire a gun.” He switches to a video of the fight from a different angle courtesy of one of the tower’s security cameras.

“It’s like he’s got some sort of precognition,” Bruce says thoughtfully. 

“He was adamant that Red Hood wasn’t there to hurt us,” Tim says, “and I think he was right.” They’re all silent as they look at the screen. Paused as Spider-man is in the air, flipping over Red Hood. 

“The sun is up,” Alfred’s voice comes from the bottom of the stairs and they all turn to look at him guiltily. Alfred’s eyes stray to the screen just briefly before pinning each of them with his disappointed gaze. “The Bats should be in bed.” 

“There’s a new player in the field,” Bruce says.

“And he will still be there tonight. Your breakfasts are waiting,” Alfred raises an eyebrow and Bruce and Dick both hurry to the changing rooms. Alfred’s gaze goes back to the screen and then over to Tim. 

“Is the boy alright?” Alfred asks. Tim blinks at him. 

“Yeah I think so, Red Hood didn’t hurt him.”

“I should think not,” Alfred says. “The tea will get cold.” With that, he turns and heads back up to the Manor. Tim looks back at the screen and blinks a few times. Maybe he needs to lay off the coffee after all, or more likely he needs some more. 

Chapter Text

Peter

It takes less time than Peter expected for Robin to start searching for him. He’d had the jet drop them back in Gotham where they’d stolen it from and then he’d had Karen clean up anything that could have given their presence away. Obviously, Batman would know that they’d taken it for a joy ride but as long as they weren’t somehow able to spot Karen’s work then they should be totally in the clear. Jason had woken up halfway back to the Opera house and Peter was immensely thankful for it because swinging with only one webshooter while also carrying Jason was starting to get annoying. There didn’t seem to be any lasting damage from the crack to Jason’s head and he’d been able to swing himself with his grappling hook til they were back safe in their box. 

Neither of them had spoken. Eventually, Jason went to sleep, seemingly drained by the events of the day and Peter didn’t blame him. He’d put on his headphones and had Karen play some music while he’d fiddled with some electronic scraps that he’d found in a dumpster a few days before. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was meant to be working on. He’d thought briefly about trying to find his way back to his own world but he didn’t have near enough information on how to do that, or the proper equipment to even attempt it. 

“Peter,” Karen’s voice interrupts his music. He pauses in his tinkering. “It appears that someone is using your web shooter to track my location. I am blocking it for now. Would you like me to continue?” Peter lets himself fall back from his crouch and considers it. Jason is still out cold and Peter’s got so much restless energy that it would probably do him some good to get out for a bit. 

“Find us a meeting spot, I did promise to answer his questions,” Peter jumps back up to their box and moves as silently as he can as he grabs his hoodie and wallet. He glances over at Red Hood where he sleeps and considers waking him up for a moment before deciding just to leave a note about going out. That done, he leaves the Opera house and follows Karen’s directions to a diner. Peter goes inside and asks the waitress for a quiet booth then orders himself a hot chocolate and waits. 

It doesn’t take long. Peter has his phone in his hand while he waits, the location of his missing web shooter on the top of the screen while he does a vague search of multiverse travel. He doesn’t expect to find much but there is a particle accelerator in Central City that could be useful to him. He barely glances up from his phone when another body drops onto the bench across from him. 

“Where do you get it?” The black haired teen asks. Peter locks his phone screen and slides it into the front pocket of his hoodie. 

“The fluid? I made it.”

“You made it.” 

“Yep.” 

“How?” The teen leans on the table, the web shooter hanging off one of his wrists. It won’t tighten properly since it doesn’t recognize the teen wearing it. 

“Do you want the formula?”

“Yes!” 

“Here’s your hot chocolate hun,” The waitress says as she sets the mug down in front of Peter, a large amount of whipped cream on top. Peter licks his lips as he pulls it closer. “What can I get for you?” She asks the other teen. 

“Coffee please,” He says. Peter looks at him, he looks a little less pale now and he must have gotten some measure of sleep because his eye bags aren’t that bad but they’re definitely still there. The waitress nods and goes to get it for him. 

“I’m Peter Parker,” He says, holding out his hand. 

“Peter? That a family name or something?” 

“Or something,” Peter waves his fingers a little and the other teen sighs.

“Tim Drake,” He shakes Peter’s hand. Just for fun, Peter sticks their hands together. Tim tries to pull away and pauses then frowns at their hands. Peter loosens his fingers and watches for a second as Tim continues to try and pull away before he releases his hold. Tim looks at his hand for a second before a look of disgust crosses his face. 

“Oh god spider.” He says. Peter laughs as the other teen grabs his wrist and pulls it closer to try and spot the microscopic hairs on Peter’s skin. The waitress returns then and eyes them critically a bit before setting down a mug beside Tim and filling it with coffee. He lets go of Peter and gives her a quiet thanks before pulling the mug close, and inhaling deeply. 

“So you had questions right?” Peter asks as he scoops up some whipped cream with a spoon and shovels it into his mouth. 

“So many.” 

“I won’t answer all of them,” Peter warns. 

“I’ll take what I can get,” Tim shrugs and drinks his coffee looking like it's a religious experience or something. 

“Question for a question?” Peter asks. 

“I won’t answer all of them,” Tim parrots back. 

“Fair is fair,” Peter shrugs “What have you got?” 

“How did you get into the tower?” 

“Flaw in your security,” Peter grins. 

“Bullshit. I enhanced that security myself and Cyborg created it before me!” Tim insists. 

“Guess you missed something.” 

“What did we miss? B won’t let me go back until they figure it out,” Tim crosses his arms looking petulant. Peter almost feels bad, he knows what it's like to be treated like a child. He considers how to answer. Batman is supposed to be the world's greatest detective. There’s no way that he doesn’t know exactly how they got in already. He must know who is under the Red Hood. 

“Your um… B knows what the breach was,” Peter says. 

“What?” Tim’s gaze sharpens as he takes in Peter’s words. Peter considers how much he should say. How far can he push Jason’s trust? His spider sense seems to like him, Peter’s gotten pretty good at trusting it but Jason is a lot more unforgiving than the spider sense. 

“I think that you’re being kept in the dark about things and while I don’t think it's right it’s also not my place to bring them into the light. Hood is my friend and I can’t betray his trust.” 

“How long have you known the Hood?” Tim asks. 

“I think it’s been like… A week? Maybe close to two. I honestly have not been paying too close attention. It's hard without school or a job to keep track of time.” 

“You’re not in school?”

“No.”

“But you’re smart.”

“Yeah?” Peter blows on his hot chocolate a bit before drinking it. 

“So you’re not out of school by choice,” Tim concludes. Peter considers his words. Would he go back to school if it was an option? He’d enjoyed the time he had there with Ned and MJ but the classes themselves had driven him a little crazy. 

“Yes and no,” He decides with a shrug. “I liked having time with my friends but I learned a lot more out of school than I did in it.” 

“That’s fair,” Tim tilts his head to the side and they both consider each other for a while.

“Who do I look like?” Peter asks. Tim blinks at him. 

“You don’t know?” 

“Not a clue.” 

“How do you know you look like someone then?” 

“Because you’re the third person to react to my face.” 

“Who were the first two?” Peter chews on his lip thinking of his answer. Alfred would be too obvious. If he said he’d been to the Manor and met Alfred then Tim would probably figure out pretty quickly that Hood was one of his brothers. 

“Hood,” He settles on. “And an unnamed second person.” 

“That’s cheating.” Tim insists. “We never agreed on vague answers.”

“It’s basically no answer and we said no answers were fine.” 

“You and your stupid face are frustrating me.” Tim flicks a sugar packet and it hits Peter in the middle of his forehead. They both pause for a second and then Tim snorts out a laugh. “I thought you had precognition.” 

“What? Why would you think that?” Peter asks. 

“I watched back the security footage of your fight. You reacted before things happened.” 

“It’s not precognition,” Peter says with a roll of his eyes. “It’s more like a danger sense or something. I don’t know, it comes with the spider stuff.”

“What else comes with it?” Tim asks eagerly. 

“I’m not answering that when you look like you want to strap me to a table and run experiments on me.” 

“What if I skip the strapping you down part?” 

“Been there done that,” Peter waves him away. “I’ve got something you’ll wanna see more than my spider DNA.” 

“You have Spider DNA?” Tim asks. Peter ignores that and slides his phone across the table with Karen on the screen. Tim blinks down at it in confusion. “What’s Stark?”

“My mentor,” Peter’s going to get a sticker to cover the name or something. “He’s dead now.” 

“Sorry,” Tim murmurs. He pulls the phone closer then picks it up and flips it around examining it. Peter takes off his headphones and holds them out. Tim eyes them for a moment before putting them on. 

“Hello Timothy Drake,” Karen says. Peter drops his chin into his hand and watches as Tim’s eyes widen. 

“Hello?” He says. “Who is this?”

“I am an Artificial assistant designed by Tony Stark to assist Peter. He has named me Karen.” 

“Wait, you're a robot?” 

“No, I do not have a body. I am just an artificial intelligence.” Karen corrects gently. Peter grins at the face Tim is making. 

“You were the one hacking my security system!” Tim shouts. Peter leans across the table quickly and covers Tim’s mouth. Tim sinks down in his seat and both boys glance around the diner but no one seems to be paying them any mind. 

“Yes, that was me.” 

“Shit no wonder I couldn’t keep you out.” Tim looks properly grumpy as he crosses his arms. “What else can you do?” 

“I can do a lot. My main function is to assist Peter.” 

“Did you help make her?” Tim asks. Peter shakes his head and picks up his spoon to stir his hot chocolate with. 

“Tony taught me how he did it but Karen was all him. He put her in the suit he gave me to babysit me,” he rolls his eyes, then reaches over and takes his phone and headphones back from Tim. 

“Oh come on I have more questions for her,” Tim whines, nearly knocking over his coffee in his attempt to grab them back. Peter catches the mug and keeps his devices away from the other boy. 

“Question for a question and you didn’t answer the one about my face,” Peter reminds him. Tim slumps back in his seat once again and glares at Peter. 

“Fine, you look like Richard Wayne,” Tim says. 

“Who’s that?” Peter puts his headphones back on and slides the phone into his pocket. Tim blinks at him. 

“Richie Wayne? The… actually I don’t know what to call him, socialite maybe?. He’s Bruce Wayne’s oldest son. Or well now he’s his son but he used to be his ward before he was properly adopted,” Tim finishes off his coffee and looks around hopefully for the waitress. Peter is pretty sure Tim should never be allowed near caffeine again. 

“Sorry, I uh… Don’t know who either of those people are.” 

“You’re not from Gotham?”

“No, he’s from New York obviously,” A new voice says. Both boys look up at the large figure looming over their table now. He’s not wearing his usual suit but a red hoodie with a very large hood that casts his whole face in shadows is under his leather jacket. Jason shoves Tim further into the booth and drops down next to him to limit his escape. Tim presses himself further against the wall looking at him warily. 

“Stop trying to be scary.” Peter scolds him. Jason crosses his arms. Peter can see now that he’s also wearing a black face mask under the hood but he hasn’t put on his helmet or the domino mask he’s so fond of. Jason pulls a scrap of paper out of his pocket and drops it onto the table. Peter leans forward to read it even though he already knows what it says.

‘Robin’s trying to stalk me so I’m gonna go out and meet with him. I’ll bring back some food! Sweet dreams! -Peter’ 

“What?” Peter asks. He sees that Tim is reading the note too. 

“I told you to stay away from the Bats,” Jason says with a low voice. 

“You told me to stay away from Batman. Tim is not Batman.” 

“Tim?” Jason says incredulously. “Jesus Christ kid you can not befriend every masked weirdo you meet on the street.” 

“Well I didn’t meet either of you on the streets,” Peter points out. “And I haven’t befriended Nightwing yet and he’s the one that I did meet on the street.” 

“I hate my life,” Jason grumbles. 

“Same,” Peter and Tim answer at the same time. They meet each other's eyes and then both burst out laughing. Jason drops his head into his hands and mumbles curses in a multitude of languages.
“Anything for you?” The waitress asks as she comes back to their table. The look that she’s giving Jason can only be described as dirty, before turning concerned as she looks at Peter and Tim. 

“Another hot chocolate for my brother,” Jason says, waving a hand at Peter. “He’ll also have a western omelet and a stack of pancakes. I’ll have an egg sandwich and the runt can have whatever he wants.” The waitresses gaze swings back to Peter who gives her his brightest smile. 

“He’s only two years older than me but he thinks he’s an adult,” Peter says, he moves his leg out of the way just in time to avoid Jason’s kick and there’s a loud thunk as his boot hits the wooden bench. Peter has to hold his breath to keep from laughing again. The waitress looks at Tim. 

“Another coffee please,” He says. Peter can see the green of Jason’s eyes narrow beneath the hood. 

“He’ll also have an omelet,” Jason tells her. 

“Mhmm alright,” She says, eyeing Jason one more time before walking off. 

“She doesn't like you,” Peter says, dodging another kick from Jason. 

“People aren’t supposed to like me, you little shit. I’m a crime lord,” Jason says with a long suffering sigh. 

“You’re only two years older than Peter?” Tim asks. Peter can’t see Jason’s face but he can feel the disappointed glare 

“He says that age doesn’t matter for ghosts.” Peter finishes off his hot chocolate and sets the cup on the edge of the table for the waitress. 

“Ghosts?” Tim asks. Jason reaches across the table and yanks Peter’s hood up over his head pulling it down over his eyes. 

“Stoopp” Peter complains as he tries to free himself. 

“Ignore him, he has brain damage,” Jason says. Peter considers the risks of biting him. 

“Are you guys really brothers?” Tim asks.

“Do you ever stop asking questions?” Jason snaps at him. 

“Peter promised me a question for a question.” Peter gets his hood free and sits up straight, tugging his hoodie back into place and shooting glares at Jason. 

“Of course he did. Pete just let him play with the nice AI lady.”

“Yeah let me play with the nice AI lady,” Tim agrees. 

“No way!” Peter shoves his hands into his pockets. “He hasn’t given me my web shooter back.” 

“Fine,” Jason says. “Tim, give Peter his web shooter. Peter, give Tim your phone. And for the love of god, someone give me a drink.” 

“You’ll have to settle for coffee,” The waitress says. She starts unloading dishes and drinks onto the table. Peter and Tim glare at each other as they reluctantly swap gadgets. Peter keeps his headphones though, he’s feeling petty. Tim sticks his tongue out at him. 

“I’ll trade you a twerp for that flask you’ve got in your apron,” Jason offers with a grin in his voice. The waitress chokes out a laugh and puts his coffee in front of him.

“I’ve got enough of my own you can keep yours.” She takes Peter’s empty mug and then heads back to the kitchen. Peter slips his web shooter onto his wrist and feels something inside him settle once its familiar weight is back. They’re all quiet for a while as they dig into their food. Tim doesn’t even seem to notice that he’s eating as he chats with Karen. Peter grabs the syrup and pours it over his pancakes. 

“Can’t believe I’m eating breakfast at 2 pm on a Monday with a crime lord that literally wanted to kill me yesterday,” Tim mumbles after a few minutes. Peter pauses and tries to look into Jason’s hood. 

“He slept it off,” Peter explains weakly. 

“Of yeah right, sleeping off a homicidal rage. Perfectly normal,” Tim says with an eye roll. Peter looks at him closely and sees that while they might have all been acting normal Tim hasn’t really relaxed. He’s great at faking it, at looking unconcerned. But when Peter pays attention he sees people’s body language a lot more clearly than he ever could before. Probably better than most humans can. Tim is still nervous about Jason. 

“Can’t you tell him?” Peter asks Jason. Jason puts down his fork and crosses his arms. 

“No.” 

“But B- Your dad already knows right? So isn’t it more fair if they all know? Then they can understand better,” Peter insists. Maybe it’s not his place but Jason has done a lot for him already and it’s only fair if Peter tries to help him too. Jason deserves to have his family back. He deserves to be able to go back to that big fancy house and drink tea with his butler Grandpa. 

“What?” Tim asks looking between the two of them. 

“You’re a nosy little fucker,” Jason snaps at Peter, and then he pulls his hood off before picking up his sandwich and taking a large bite. Tim’s eyes widen as he stares at Jason’s face for the first time.

“You called me replacement,” Tim whispers, Peter guesses that he’s just realizing what exactly the words mean. 

“Obviously,” Jason says. 

“Oh my god,” Tim’s face flickers through so many emotions Peter can barely keep up. Jason puts his sandwich back down and wipes his hands with a napkin.  

“Let’s get somewhere more private so he can finish his freak out,” Jason says. He pulls out his wallet and drops a couple of fifties onto the table then stands up. Peter gets up as well but Tim doesn’t move. Jason sighs and pulls Tim out of the booth and keeps his hands on his shoulders to guide him out of the diner. 

“Thank you! Money’s on the table!” Peter calls to the waitress as he follows the two out onto the street. Jason’s hood is back up once Peter catches up to them outside. “It’s not far back to our place,” he suggests. 

“The kids probably got like five trackers on him,” Jason says. “We bring him there and there will be a bat infestation before we know it.” 

“He doesn’t have any trackers on him,” Peter says. Jason looks confused by that but he turns Tim and checks the seams of his clothes.

“Bruce doesn’t track me,” Tim says trying to pull free from Jason. 

“Bruce tracks all of his kids.” 

“Yeah, but I'm not his kid.” 

“You telling me he lets you run around in tights and scaly panties and doesn’t keep an eye on you afterward?” 

“I got rid of the scaly panties,” Tim says with a huff of annoyance. 

“Come on Hood, let's take him home!” Peter insists as he moves between the two of them and throws an arm around Tim’s neck pulling him close. He can tell that Jason is glaring down at him through the shadows of his hood but Peter just widens his grin. “He’s my friend now!” 

“I hate both of you,” Jason sighs. “Fine, take him home. I’ll take the roofs to make sure no one tries to follow us. And have your phone take care of the cameras. I don’t need Oracle in our business either.” 

Peter cheers at his success and lets go of Tim briefly to squeeze Jason in a tight hug, lifting him off the ground a few inches before letting him go. He grabs Tim’s arm before the other teen can protest and pulls him down the street. Behind him, he hears the sound of a grappling hook as Jason takes to the roofs.

Chapter Text

Tim

Tim stands on the stage of the old Gotham Opera House and wonders how exactly he’d ended up here. How did following the new Spider themed vigilante end up with him being brought ‘home’ by Red Hood and Peter? Jesus Christ, by Peter and Jason Todd. Jason Todd who is alive and well, okay not well but definitely alive. His Robin is alive. Tim feels like he might vibrate out of his skin if he doesn’t calm the fuck down. 

“What do you think?” Peter asks. He’s standing beside Tim, rocking back on his heels with his hands stuffed into the pockets of an oversized Superman hoodie that Tim is honestly pretty sure belonged to Dick before, or Dick at least had the same one. He still hasn’t quite figured out what Peter’s connection to Dick was. They looked similar but at the same time different. Peter’s hair was brown instead of black and a bit more curly, his skin isn’t as tan as Dick’s either, and he’s got brown eyes instead of blue. But the shape of his eyes, his smile, and even some of his mannerisms are all Dick. 

“It’s…. Quaint?” Tim says hesitantly. Honestly, it’s pretty fucking creepy. He grew up hearing stories of the haunted Opera house in Crime Alley, and the other kids at his school daring each other to enter. No one ever did. It’s clear that Peter has made an attempt to clean the place up. The stage has been swept clear and it looks like Red Hood, Jason, has turned the orchestra pit into his base. He’s got a computer set up in there and his entire arsenal spread out on tables. One of the Opera boxes has a curtain hanging over it, hiding it from view. 

“It’s a shit hole,” Jason says, dropping down into the orchestra pit and unloading his weapons onto one of the tables. 

“You guys suck,” Peter sighs. “Jason got us some generators. So our sleeping box and our kitchen box have power and then he’s got power in his supervillain base down there too.”

“Hey, I am a crime lord, not a supervillain. And what happened to you calling me a vigilante?” Jason asks, sounding affronted. 

“You have explosives down there,” Peter says. Tim eyes the table of explosives and wonders what the hell Jason plans to use them for. This whole thing feels kind of surreal and he’s a little unsure about Jason himself after being attacked twice, not to mention the Red Hood has been running around Gotham killing criminals. There was the whole mess with the bag of heads and just the other night Red Hood and Batman had fought and there’d been something involving the Joker but after the whole Joker kidnapping Tim mess Bruce was hesitant to share any of the cases involving Joker with Tim. Also, there’s literally a tire iron strapped to Jason’s back under his leather jacket and Tim had read the autopsy report before Bruce had realized how easily Tim could hack into the batcomputer. Jason had been killed by the explosion but his body had been riddled with injuries that could have definitely been caused by a tire iron. 

“Do you have an autopsy scar?” Tim asks. Jason freezes and Peter’s eyes widen. 

“Do you have any fucking manners?” Jason asks, turning to glare up at them. 

“Nothing useful outside of a Gala really,” Tim shrugs. 

“Wait, is that actually a thing?” Peter asks. Jason flips Tim off and then tosses his leather jacket over the back of a chair. The hoodie he’d been wearing underneath it was actually a zip up sleeveless thing that makes Tim think Jason might get his bad fashion sense from Dick. Jason pulls up the hoodie and his shirt showing a long scar down the middle of his abdomen, and most likely splits into a Y shape at the top. 

“There, happy?” Jason asks, letting his shirt drop back down. 

“Obviously not,” Peter says. 

“Mad that you didn’t get an autopsy too?” Jason asks. He pulls himself out of the pit onto the stage in front of them. 

“I was dust. You can’t do an autopsy on dust. Plus I was on another planet!” Peter yells. Tim looks between the two of them. 

“I’m sorry did you both die?” He asks, trying to catch up to what has obviously been an ongoing topic of conversation for them. 

“Yes,” they say at the same time.  

“How did you guys come back?” 

“I got better,” Jason grins. 

“My mentor invented time travel to collect the magic stones that killed me in the first place and used them to bring everyone they’d killed back to life.” 

“What?” Tim needs a cup of coffee, or an energy drink, or a lobotomy. “You don’t just get better from being dead!” 

“Well, I did,” Jason says with a shrug. “Woke up in a coffin. Dug my way out of my own grave. Now I’m back in the land of the living.” 

“We’re ghosts,” Peter adds. “Because Jason won’t let me call us zombies.” 

“Zombies have more brains than you,” Jason teases him. Tim resolutely ignores the pang of definitely not jealousy he feels. He’s not one of Bruce’s kids and he’ll probably never be Bruce’s kid, hell he’s barely even Robin. He picked up the suit himself and now that Jason is really back it’s only a matter of time before the title is taken from him. So he is definitely not jealous of the almost brotherly relationship that Jason and Peter have clearly created. 

“Okay,” Tim says, taking a deep breath. He desperately wants his questions answered but he needs to be careful not to set Jason off again. Peter had said he’d asked the wrong question at the tower and had set Jason off. So Tim will just have to be more careful. 

Peter and Jason stop their playful bickering to look at him and Tim wonders if there are any trap doors on the stage for him to disappear through. He needs to keep it together. Sure he’s only running on like three hours of sleep and the two cups of coffee from the diner but whatever. He’s still Robin for the time being and he should act like it. 

“You gonna interrogate me?” Jason asks. 

“I have questions,” He admits. 

“Of course, you fucking do.” 

“You would have questions too if you found out that your Ro-... Your predecessor had come back from the dead.” 

“If my predecessor had died I would have hunted down the bastard that did it and put a bullet in his skull,” Jason growls. Tim does not think about being attacked in the graveyard all those months ago. They’d thought it had been Clayface, but there was too much coincidence for it to have been Clayface the whole time. 

“I tried that,” Tim admits. 

“What?” 

“I went after the Joker on my own…” 

“What happened?” Jason demands. Peter is watching Jason’s eyes intently and when Tim looks he sees that Jason’s once blue eyes are more green now. Green eyes, white streak in his hair. Lazarus pit. Jason has been in a Lazarus pit and he must be experiencing the pit rage. That’s what Peter had meant when he’d said that Jason wasn’t in control of himself. But how much of it was the pit and how much of it was just Jason? 

“I got… He got me with his toxin. I was… He kept me for a while.” Tim hates thinking about that time. He hates that sometimes he still wakes up choking on laughter. 

“How did you… How did you survive?” Jason’s eyes are fully green but he hasn’t moved at all. 

“Nightwing found us. Joker had um, he told Nightwing that he’d killed me too. He bragged that he’d gotten two out of three Robins,” Tim prepares himself for this next part. “He killed the Joker. Beat him till his heart stopped.” Jason looks unsteady on his feet. Peter moves closer and Jason grabs his shoulder to steady himself. 

“Then why is that bastard still alive?” Jason asks. 

“Because killing the Joker would have ruined Nightwing. It would have turned him into something that he hated… and Batman had already lost one son. He lost you and he thought that he’d lose Nightwing too if he let the Joker die.” 

“So he brought him back,” Jason says with resignation. 

“Nightwing didn’t know… About you.” Tim says softly. “He was off world when you died. He didn’t… He didn’t know until he got back to earth after your funeral. It broke him, losing you that way. It broke B too. He wasn’t right. He was violent. Even minor criminals were hospitalized after he was done with them. I had been following you guys. I knew that B was Batman and I thought that… I thought that he needed a Robin. Because you always made him better.” 

“What?” 

“I was obsessed with Batman as a kid and I was at the circus the day Nightwing’s parents fell. I recognized his movements as Robin. I was too young at the time to get around on my own but as soon as I could I started following. Then you became Robin and I watched how Batman changed with you. How he seemed to smile more even on patrols. I saw the way you were with the people too. Always willing to stop what you were doing to help others. The way you made sure to check in on the street kids. I idolized you.” 

“Jesus Christ kid,” Jason leans more of his weight on Peter’s shoulder but the younger teen doesn’t even seem to notice. Tim remembers seeing Peter pick up Red Hood on the roof of the Titan’s tower. He hadn’t struggled at all then either. Tim hadn’t planned to come here and spill his heart out. He hadn’t thought he’d ever have the chance to say this stuff to Jason though. To really meet his Robin. But Jason was back now and he needed to hear about the good that he did. The way he helped Bruce. If there was any chance of bringing him back into the family then he needed to hear this stuff. Then maybe Tim could catch a fucking break for a bit. 

“Isn’t Batman supposed to be a detective?” Peter asks, tilting his head back to look up at Jason. “How did you guys not notice a little kid following you around?” 

“I was very small,” Tim shrugs. “I thought that I could use my knowledge to help B. I went looking for Nightwing because he’d left the city. I found him back with the circus and I thought I could convince him to come back and be Robin again. He did bring me back to Gotham with him and introduced me to Bruce and Alfred but he said that he couldn’t be Robin anymore. Which is stupid if you ask me since Robin was his to begin with.” 

“You have to grow out of the scaly panties at some point,” Jason says. There’s a bit of amusement in his voice now at least so Tim thinks he might be on the right track. Dick seems to be the answer to getting Jason back and that makes perfect sense really. Dick wasn’t just a predecessor to the Robin name for Jason. He was his brother, and whatever fight he has with Bruce doesn’t involve Dick. Dick who Jason now knows tried to kill the Joker for him. Dick who nearly broke himself to avenge Jason’s death, and what he thought was also Tim’s death. Though Tim knows that Dick’s outrage had been more about Jason than himself. 

“Well Batman needed him to be Robin because Robin is Batman’s partner… and when Nightwing refused I realized that… well if he wasn’t going to do it then I would. At least until Batman could find another Robin. The costume fit at least… and well I knew all their secret identities so it’s not like they could get rid of me.” 

“Oh my god,” Jason says. He drops his head down on top of Peter’s and Tim is worried for a moment when he sees the older teen's shoulders shaking but then Jason bursts out laughing and lets his whole body drop onto Peter who keeps him standing with an amused smile on his face. “You blackmailed Batman!” Jason cracks out. Tim blinks at him. Not really being able to reconcile his memories of being attacked by the Red Hood in a graveyard with the sight of Jason Todd collapsing in laughter on top of a much smaller version of Dick. Tim’s fingers itch for his camera. 

“Absolutely I did,” Tim says, and then he can’t help himself. Because his Robin is in front of him and he’s laughing and Tim can do nothing but laugh with him. The good kind of laughter that doesn’t steal his breath and remind him of torture. Peter snorts at the both of them, looking incredibly fond. 

Chapter Text

Jason

Jason waits until Tim is gone and Peter is engrossed in one of his projects to really take the time to sit down and think about the events of the past few days. The Lazarus juice or whatever it is still inside him has already pretty much healed his injuries, leaving just behind more scars added to his collection. He stands in the bathroom now staring at himself in the remains of the mirror. He doesn’t see the boy that he used to be anymore. The Robin that Tim had described like he was some kind of idol or something. 

He brings a hand up to touch the newest scar on his neck. It’s still fresh, barely healed really. He’s lucky that Bruce has such good aim. Just a bit deeper and not even the Lazarus magic could have stitched him back together. He’s pieced together enough of his memories to truly hate the person he’d been in that fight. The way he’d taunted Bruce with his Dick’s potential death. He’d heard Bruce break his own rules, screaming Dick’s name as he watched Bludhaven burn. Had he screamed that way in Ethiopia? Had he called for Jason the way that Jason had called for him?

 He’d given Bruce his forgiveness for not making it in time. That was fine. Jason’s older now, and he knows that Bruce had done his best. He’d given Jason an order and Jason hadn’t followed it. If he’d just listened then he wouldn’t have died. But god. He’d wanted Joker dead and now the Joker is still alive out there. He is still looming over Gotham like a bomb waiting to go off. How many will die? How many more will he kill? Why did Jason have to give Bruce the choice? He’d had opportunity after opportunity to kill the Joker and he’d put it off trying to prove something to Bruce, to himself. He’d failed. He’d come here to hurt Bruce and the only person hurting right now was himself. 

He and the nearly six million people who had lost their lives in Bludhaven. Jason picks his helmet off the bathroom counter and looks into the dark eyes of it. What can he do? If he was to go out there, what difference could he make? He looks at himself one more time in the mirror. Jason Todd, Robin, Red Hood. Who is he? What can he become? He puts the helmet on and leaves the bathroom. His favorite leather jacket is still down in the orchestra pit, along with most of his weapons besides the knife strapped to his thigh. It doesn’t matter right now. He has no plans, no schemes. 

“I’m going out Pete,” He calls out to the stage where Peter sits surrounded by torn apart electronics. Peter tilts his head back to look up at him. 

“Where?” He calls back.

“To Bludhaven,” He heads for the doors. Somehow it doesn’t surprise him when Peter jumps and lands beside him. 

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Peter asks. It probably is, there have been recovery teams out in Bludhaven since the explosion looking for anything that surprised the blast. Pulling bodies out of the rubble and trying to identify them. Even the Justice League had sent help. 

“Yeah probably…” 

“But you want to go anyway.” 

“I haven’t pissed off any superheroes lately. It’s ruining my street cred.”

“Let me suit up, I'll come with you.”  Peter turns to run back to where he’d stashed his suit but Jason catches his arm before he can. 

“Not your full suit. Just wear one of my domino masks. If someone asks who you are, tell them you came from out of town. Don’t answer any real questions. Try to keep the freaky spider shit to a minimum,” Jason hates how much he reminds himself of Bruce. 

“Yeah okay that makes sense,” Peter shoots a web to the ceiling and launches himself up into their box. He’s only gone for a few seconds before he returns with the domino mask and the glue Jason keeps with them. “How do I do this?” He asks. Jason takes both from him and carefully applies the glue to the mask. 

“Head straight, move your hair,” He says. Peter straightens out his posture and pushes his curls back away from his face with both hands. Jason places the mask carefully over his eyes, checking to make sure none of the glue leaks out. He’s gotten his own curls caught in the glue to know how much of a pain it is to get out. Peter lets go of his hair and grins up at Jason. 

“How do I look?” He asks.

“Like trouble,” Jason says with a laugh. Peter’s headphones are around his neck and he’s wearing the Superman hoodie he seems to live in now. Jason’s kind of hoping the Justice League is still at the site, he’d love to see the looks on their faces if they thought teenage Dick was coming back. Jason picks up the headphones and drops them over Peter’s ears. “It’s not going to be pretty. Try to keep your ears and your senses as closed as you can. If it gets too much I’ll give you my helmet. I’m sure your weird little robots can mod it to block more out for you. And have Karen keep us connected at all times.” 

“Alright,” Peter says with a nod. Jason is pretty sure that this is a bad idea but sitting around and doing nothing is just as bad of an idea. He needs to be out there. He needs to see if the Red Hood can actually do some good in the world. 

His bike is almost miraculously where he left it hidden away. He should figure out how to get it into the Opera house with them or find a safe house where he can stash it. It’s only a matter of time before one of the residents of Crime Alley decides it's worth the risk. Both of them are silent on the drive out to Bludhaven. With the bridge gone, they have to take the long way around the bay. Peter’s hands grip Jason’s hoodie tightly as the ruins come into sight. 

The rescue teams are still at work. Bright lights have been brought in to keep their efforts brightly lit despite the neverending gloom that seems to curse this part of the country. There’s a telltale blur of red and gold as a speedster zips around the city and the green glow of a lantern’s ring. Jason slows the bike down as they approach the barricade that marks the edge of the blast zone. It’s being guarded, of course, the National Guard probably. Jason stops the bike and waits for Peter to get off the bike before getting off himself. The soldiers grip their guns tightly as they eye Jason’s helmet. 

“Hi!” Peter says cheerfully as he pulls off his motorcycle helmet. His headphones had shrunk down to fit under it but they return to their original shape now that they’re free. 

“Who are you?” one of the soldiers asks. 

“We came to volunteer our help,” Jason says. 

“Civilians are not allowed through.” is the response. Jason wishes that he could just blast his way through them. 

“We aren’t civilians, obviously,” Jason says, waving a hand at his own mask and then at Peter’s. They look unsure at least. 

“The bat sent us.” Jason tries. 

“The bat sent a kid?” One of them says a bit mockingly. 

“He sent two actually,” A voice says from behind them. Jason doesn’t know whether or not to be annoyed or relieved when the two guards move aside to reveal Robin. 

“Robin!” Peter says cheerfully, giving his new best friend a wave. 

“They’re with me,” Tim says. “You guys are late.” 

“Yeah yeah,” Jason steps over the barricade and between the two soldiers without a second glance. Peter just hops over it and hurries over to stand beside Tim. 

“What are you guys really doing here?” he asks as they all walk further into the mess. 

“I thought you were going home to sleep,” Jason accuses. 

“And then I saw how badly things were going over here. They needed more help running things and with B out of commission then it falls to me.” 

“Not Nightwing?” Peter asks. 

“He’s too emotionally compromised. He’s here, but he can’t be trusted to run things the way they need to be run.” 

“Where can we help?” Jason asks. “Keep us together and preferably away from Dickwing.” Tim gives him a look that would probably be annoyed if his eyes were visible, but he does lift up his tablet and shows them a map of the different zones. 

“You can work in zone seven. There are no heavy hitters over there. How much can you handle… What do I call you like this?” Tim asks. Peter shrugs his shoulders and looks at Jason. 

“Hood said I should lay off the spider here.” 

“He doesn’t need to be attracting attention from the league. I’ll run interference if any of them cause problems.”

“Okay but we can’t just call him nothing,” Tim sounds exasperated. Jason gets an idea.

“Call him Grayson.” 

“Oh come on,” Tim types on his keyboard and somehow manages to flip Jason off at the same time. “Fine, you and ‘Grayson’ are assigned to zone seven. There’s no league assigned there right now but Flash is roaming.” 

“Which Flash is it?” Jason asks. 

“Two, thought he could be useful if N went off the rails.” 

“Probably a good idea.” Jason pats Peter on the back and then heads for the zone they’ve been assigned. The retrieval efforts haven’t been going on for too long yet. They had to wait for the city to stop burning before they could bring people in. But they’ve made pretty quick work now that they’re here. They’ve used scanners to locate what they think might be bodies and they’ve got them marked off on maps. The workers seem a little hesitant about letting Peter help but once he picks up a large slab of concrete nearly three times his side and sets it gently in a cleared zone they seem to accept him. 

Jason and Peter get to work. They don’t talk much as they work. Peter seems to get more and more subdued as they go but he doesn’t let up. Jason’s strength was enhanced a bit by the Lazarus pit but nowhere near the kid's level. So he lets the kid handle the heavy lifting and he handles the bodies himself. He’s climbing back out of a deep crater they’ve been working in, a much too small black back in his arms when he spots Nightwing waiting for him.  Jason nods his head at him then moves to the tents and lays the bag down in the row of others. 

“Nightwing,” He says as he straightens back up. 

“Red Hood. What are you doing here?” Dick asks. Jason grabs a couple bottles of water from a cooler then walks back to the crater and knows that Dick is following close behind him. He watches Peter where he digs through some rubble. 

“Doing some good, mostly supervising.” He nods at Peter. Dick comes to stand beside him, looking down as well. Peter grabs onto what looks like a large boulder and Jason’s pretty sure the kids using a little bit of his stickiness as he pulls it out of the ground and tosses it up and into the rapidly growing pile of rubble. 

“Who is that?” Nightwing asks. He looks beat, his shoulders are sagging and his suit is covered in dirt and tears. Jason doubts that he’s slept since the explosion.

“Who am I?” Jason asks. 

“I’d love to know if you’re willing to tell.” 

“I don’t know if I am. Not until I figure out what comes next or you figure it out on your own,” 

“Fine, you won’t tell me who you are but who’s the kid?” 

“Mine, you and the bat can’t have him. Grayson!” He calls. Nightwing doesn’t startle but Jason can tell he’s tensing up. Peter pauses for a second and seems to either remember that he’s supposed to be going by that name now or maybe that Karen is reminding him. He turns to look up at them. Jason holds up one of the water bottles. Peter nods then jumps up out of the crater, he flips in the air before landing in front of the two vigilantes. Jason would be more amused if he wasn’t so drained by their work. Peter stands up straight and tries to wipe some dirt off his face but just ends up smearing more. 

“Everything good?” He asks. 

“Hydrate or die,” Jason says. He hands a water bottle over to Nightwing then opens the other one giving it to Peter. Peter doesn’t argue and he finishes the bottle in nearly one gulp.

“Your name is Grayson?” Dick asks, his eyes scanning over Peter. It’s covered with dirt as well but Jason wonders if he recognizes his own clothes on Peter. 

“That’s what he tells me,” Peter says with a grin as he points a finger at Jason. 

“What do you say?” 

“That he knows how things work around here better than I do and if he thinks it's a good idea to keep my identity from you guys I should probably do that. Also, I’ve gotten kinda fond of Gotham and I don’t want anyone chasing me out for what I can do.” 

“Heaven forbid he gets adopted by a billionaire and dressed up like a traffic light,” Jason tries to joke. He takes the other water bottle back from Dick and trades it for the empty one in Peter’s hand. Peter obediently drinks that one too. 

“Oh yeah because being adopted by a crime lord is so much better for young impressionable kids,” Nightwing crosses his arms. 

“It was less of an adoption and more of a hostile takeover. On his part that is, he’s sticky, hard to get rid of.” 

“He won’t admit it but I know he likes me,” Peter shuffles closer to elbow Jason’s arm with a smile on his face. It’s strained though, and Jason’s pretty sure that if he could see under the domino mask that it wouldn’t be reaching his eyes. 

“How are you doing?” Jason asks him, slinging his arm around Peter’s shoulders. Peter leans against him and fiddles with the cap of his water bottle. Jason does his best to ignore Dick watching them so closely. Ignore the fact that Dick looks ready to snatch Peter away from him at any moment. 

“I’m good. I can keep going,” Peter says with determination, and Jason knows that he will. He knows that Peter will stay here until he collapses from exhaustion. 

“I’m not asking about physically. How are you doing mentally? This is a lot. Even for me,” Jason has seen death. He has caused death. He knows destruction better than he knows himself sometimes. Peter seems to be taking his question seriously. It takes a bit for him to come up with an answer but Jason doesn’t rush him. 

“I’ve seen war,” Peter says. “I saw an entire planet that had been destroyed and I fought on a battlefield. But everyone on that battlefield had chosen to be there. They knew what they had signed up for when they went into it and they knew that what they were fighting for was worth their sacrifice. These people, these people had no idea. They were just living their lives. There were children here, whole families, and I… I couldn’t save any of them. I failed again. I keep failing.” 

“I know the feeling,” Dick says. “This was my city. It was my job to protect these people and I almost didn’t make it out myself. I had to be saved and I don’t know how I should feel about it. I should be grateful to be alive or mad about it. Because maybe if I hadn’t been there then the person that saved me could have saved someone else.” 

The three men stand there in silence for a few minutes. Jason keeps Peter tucked against his side and though he won’t be caught dead admitting it out loud he’s pretty sure he needs the physical contact as much as Peter does right now. He came out here to help, to do good, to prove to himself that he could still be good but how can he think of himself as good when he’d watched the explosion happen and he’d laughed? When he’d heard Bruce’s desperate cries for his eldest son and he’d mocked him. How can he stand here next to Nightwing, next to Dick, his brother, and not drown in the shame of his own actions? 

“Can I use the helmet?” Peter asks. Dick is still there. Jason has no doubt that he’ll know exactly who Jason is if he removes the helmet. Is this it? Is this how he reveals himself to Dick? What will Dick think? He must know about the fights that he and Bruce have had. He knows that Jason tried to hurt Robin. Hell, he had been pulled away in the wake of this tragedy to travel across the country to save Robin from Jason. He probably hasn’t slept in days. But maybe it's better this way. Maybe it’s best if he uses this weird truce they seemed to have formed in the past few minutes. 

“Nightwing let him use your mask solvent, and I could use a spare mask if you’ve got one,” he says. Dick has a frown on his face but he hands over the solvent from one of his pouches. 

“Kid’s never worn a domino before,” Jason explains. He turns Peter so his back is to Nightwing, and he helps him properly remove the domino from his face. Peter blinks a few times when his eyes are no longer covered and reaches up to touch his face but Jason pushes his hand away. “It’s still gonna be sticky, you’ll have to wash it off properly when we get back home.” 

“Okay,” Peter says. He takes the headphones off and lets them hang around his neck. Jason takes a deep breath and then turns off the voice modulator on the helmet. He knows that Peter’s not fond of the sound and it’ll probably be worse from inside the helmet. He reaches back to disengage the mask and then pulls it off. He’s lucky, he hasn’t had the time to put explosives into this helmet since he blew his last one a few weeks ago after the fight with Black Mask. He sticks the helmet on Peter’s head and makes sure it’s properly latched before letting him go. 

“Does that help?” He asks. The mask has a filter on it, so the smells should be muted at least. Peter’s headphones shift and the weird little robots spread out over the helmet, giving it a different look as they shape a gold face on the front. 

“Yeah, it’s quieter and the smells aren’t as strong.” 

“That’s good,” Jason pats the top of the helmet. “Why don’t you go let the coordinator know that we’ve finished this spot? I think me and Nightwing need to have a chat.” 

“Sure but don’t forget we have to clean the house some more before we have any more guests,” Peter’s head moves side to side as he looks between the two of them then he heads off towards where a tent has been set up. Jason knows he’ll still be listening but at least they’ll have a moment of semi-privacy. He turns to look at Nightwing and freezes at the sight of the tears falling from his mask. 

“Little wing?” He asks, and there is devastation in his voice. 

“Hey Big Bird,” He gives a weak smile and then Dick is throwing himself forward, squeezing Jason in a hug so tight he’s pretty sure he hears his ribs creak. 

“Oh my god. Oh my god,” Dick babbles. He releases Jason from the hug just to grab his shoulders and move him back so he can get a proper look at him. “Oh my fucking god.” Dick touches his hand gently over the scar forming on Jason’s neck. 

“Deep breaths Dickwing,” Jason reminds his brother. Dick shakes his head and pulls Jason forward again, pulling Jason down to press their foreheads together. 

“Is it really you?” 

“Do you want it to be? After everything the Red Hood has done?” 

“Fuck yes. Yes, I want my little brother back. Nothing else matters as long as you’re alive.” 

“You,” Jason feels like he’s choking. “You really feel that way?” 

“Yes.” And Dick sounds so sure of himself. So absolute. That even Jason’s screwed up brain can’t come up with an argument for it. So he lets Dick hold onto him, pretends that he doesn’t know Dick’s hand is on his neck feeling his pulse. Ignoring the fact that he’s definitely taller and bigger than Dick now, and lets himself believe that he’s that same kid from Crime Alley that Dick had dubbed Little Wing all those years ago. 

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter drops down onto a stool that a worker offers him. He is covered from head to toe in dirt and probably other things he doesn’t want to think about. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever get the smell out of his nose. He can’t stop playing that night over and over again in his head. Could he have done more? His Spider sense had been going off the whole night and he’d thought that Bludhaven just had the same feel as Gotham but what if it hadn’t? What if he had misinterpreted the feeling? 

Peter had made mistakes in his world. Mistakes that led him to lose everything. Aunt May was gone, Tony was gone, Ben was gone. All because Peter had to be stupid. All because Peter had thought that he’d known better. That he knew what was best. He’d snuck out and caused Ben to come looking for him, he’d let go of the gauntlet causing Thanos to be able to snap, he’d ignored Doctor Strange and allowed the villains to remain in his world. Mistake after mistake and Peter still hadn’t learned anything. 

“Hey,” Tim’s voice pulls Peter from his thoughts. He looks up at the other teen and gives him a fake smile before remembering that his face is covered by the helmet. 

“Hey,” Peter says. Tim looks around a bit then pulls a cooler closer so he can sit on top of it. He lets out an exhausted sounding breath and his head drops forward. 

“It’s times like this I think I might actually be too young for this vigilante stuff,” Tim admits. 

“Yeah,” Peter agrees. 

“I’m gonna have to tell my teacher tomorrow that I didn’t finish my English essay and I can’t even tell her that it’s because I was here.” 

“I got buried under a building the night of my homecoming dance and my teachers thought I was hungover Monday morning,” Peter tells him. 

“It’s actually concerning that no one has reached out to child protective services with how often I show up to class injured.” 

“Would it work if they did?” Peter twists his water bottle in his hands. 

“No, my parents have too much money and Gotham’s too corrupt for that. There’s like eight hundred homeless kids they should be focusing on anyway,” Tim waves his hand dismissively. 

“That’s so depressing,” Peter says, straightening his legs out in front of him and then leaning forward to touch his toes. 

“Oh yeah, you’re one of those homeless kids now huh? Orphan, too I bet. You can’t have a happy family life and still end up running around in tights.” 

“Oof like three times over,” Peter admits. 

“What happened?” Tim asks. 

“Mmm plane crash, gunman, does my mentor count? He was sort of like a parental figure. That was a homicidal Alien. And May…” He inhales deeply and then lets it out. “I’m afraid that one day I’ll be as used to May’s death as I am to my parents. I’m afraid that one day I’ll stop waking up to the sound of the gun that took Uncle Ben. That one day I’m going to have to step into Tony’s shoes and be the kind of hero he always believed I’d be.” 

“That’s fucked up,” Tim says. 

“Yeah, yeah it is,” Peter says before choking out something halfway between a laugh and a sob. 

“Should we get drunk after this?” Tim asks.

“My body metabolizes alcohol too fast for it to work.” 

“I bet we could make some in the lab.” 

“I’m still not letting you dissect me.” Peter teases. Tim grins at him. 

“Come on just a little bit? I won’t take anything important.” 

“Fuck you boy wonder,” Peter shoots back at him. They both laugh at that before settling into a somber silence. Peter pulls his feet up onto the stool and wraps his arms around his legs. He hadn’t really been thinking about it too much about what it meant for himself when Jason had said he needed to come out here. He’d been thinking about Jason out here alone, emotional and grumpy and Peter had decided that he’d come along to keep him from shooting anyone. But on the way over he’d thought back to that night and he’d realized that he probably needed this just as much as Jason did. 

“Can I stay at the Opera house with you tonight?” Tim asks. 

“You have to bring your own camping gear. Jason will try to give you his if you don’t.” 

“You think he’s going back there?” Tim nods his head to where Nightwing is still clinging onto Jason. He doesn’t look like he’s planning on letting go anytime soon. 

“Yeah, I think he will. Getting him to reveal himself to Nightwing is a step in the right direction but I think there’s still a lot that he won’t admit to himself or anyone else and until he can do that I don’t think he’ll let himself come back into the family.” 

“Guess my place is safe then for a bit at least.” 

“Your place?” 

“Yeah, I mean I was always just a stand. Batman needs a Robin. I filled a hole. But Jason is back now so I can retire.” 

“You think Jason’s going to fit back into those tights?” Peter asks. Tim has a wicked grin on his face as he pulls out his phone. 

“Oh my god, you don’t know. The first two Robins didn’t even wear tights,” Tim pulls up a picture on his phone and leans over to show it to Peter. It’s Batman and Robin standing on a roof. Robin is in his brightly colored costume and has entirely bare legs. Peter snatches the phone out of Tim’s hand to get a closer look at it. 

“Which is this?” Peter asks. Looking between the picture and the two men standing a few feet away. 

“That one’s Jason,” Tim says, leaning over to swipe to another picture. This one is just a picture of Robin doing a handstand on top of a street light in the same costume. “That’s N.” 

“This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. Please send all of the embarrassing pictures to me immediately.” Peter opens up the contacts and adds his phone number. He gives the phone back to Tim and wraps his arms around his legs once again. 

“You gonna be okay?” Tim asks. 

“Are you?” Peter asks back. A hum is the only response Tim gives as he puts his phone back into his utility belt. 

“I’m due back at the Batcave for a debrief soon and the shift I had you and Jason scheduled for is about done. Do you need a ride back to Gotham?” 

“Aren’t we having a slumber party?” 

“Yeah but after my debrief and I pick up some camping gear. Hey, do you think if we ask nicely we can get a picture of Red Hood holding me hostage to give to my teacher?” 

“If we don’t mention that it's to get you out of an English essay. I swear half the time he goes out he comes back with a new book. There’s a pile forming next to his sleeping bag. I figured I’d make him a bookshelf as my next project.” 

“You should see his room at the manor. There’s an entire library there and he still hoarded them in his room.” 

“You’ve been in my room Replacement?” Jason asks, kicking Tim off the cooler so he can pull out some more water bottles. He’s got a domino mask now and Peter guesses that he must have gotten it from Nightwing.

“Hey!” Tim complains as he gets to his feet. Nightwing looks nervously between the two of them and he looks like he’s on the verge of a crisis when Tim retaliates by punching Jason’s arm. 

“What’s that humming sound?” Peter asks, deciding that he should probably distract them before Nightwing's nerves get the best of him . The three brothers turn to look at him. 

“Humming? Jason asks. 

“Yeah, I thought it was just my ears getting funky from all the noise but with the helmet masking the background stuff I can still hear it. It’s almost like a heartbeat but way too fast to be a human,” he explains. It’s been weirding him out a bit all night but there’s also been a blur of red running around that he’s pretty sure has been the source. 

“Oh that’s easy,” Nightwing says. He looks around the site and then takes four steps to the left, and right into the path of the red blur. The blur turns into a man in a red and yellow suit as he skids to an abrupt stop right before they collide. He tips back his arms waving around to try and catch his balance. Nightwing reaches out and grabs the front of his suit before he can topple backward. “It’s probably this speedster’s heart.” 

“Hi?” the speedster says. Peter focuses on him. Now that he’s stationary the heartbeat has slowed just enough to be able to be identified as one. 

“Oh yeah, that is it.” 

“What’s it?” 

“Your heart sounds weird,” Tim says. “Which is pretty much just like the rest of you so that’s on brand.” 

“Sorry, what’s happening right now?” The speedster asks. 

“Introductions,” Nightwing says. He’s still got a hold of the other man’s suit and neither of them seems bothered by it. “Flash, this is Red Hood.” He places his free hand on Jason’s shoulder. A big grin on his face. 

“Um… Like the criminal? Duffle bag of heads, stolen kryptonite Red Hood?” Flash asks. Jason gives him a grin that Peter would probably call feral. 

“That’s the one,” He says. 

“This is Grayson,” Tim says, pointing at Peter. 

“Grayson?” Even with a portion of his face covered Flash looks more confused by the second. 

“It’s not my real name,” Peter explains. “Hood gave me a fake one so that no one finds out my secret identity.” 

“Oh… Why are you wearing the helmet and he’s not?” Flash asks. 

“Because everything’s too loud and it smells bad and Hood likes me,” Peter shrugs. 

“Tolerates you,” Jason corrects. 

“Likes,” Peter repeats. 

“Uh right…” Flash shoots a nervous glance at Nightwing who just gives him a blinding smile. “Gotham is so weird.” 

“You take that back West,” Jason says with a growl. Flash’s eyes widen. 

“What did you call me?” He asks, nearly vibrating in place. Peter’s eyes have trouble focusing on him 

“It’s okay,” Nightwing says, he pulls the speedster closer and whispers in his ear. Peter hears anyway. “It’s Jason, my brother.” 

“WHAT?” Flash makes a grab for Jason, probably checking to make sure he’s real but Jason dodges away from him, flipping him off. 

“We have to go if we don’t want B to come looking for us,” Tim reminds Nightwing. “Remember how grumpy he was last time we got back late?” 

“Ugh yeah, I do not need another lecture.” Nightwing sighs. “Are you finished up Flash? You can ride back with me.” 

“Wait into Gotham? Is B going to let me?” 

“Well, it’s not like I have an apartment for you to stay at. So he’s going to have to let you in if he insists on me staying at home.” 

“Sweet I can’t wait for Agent A’s cooking,” Flash says before zipping off. 

“How did you get out here?” Nightwing asks, turning his gaze to Jason. “Do you need a ride back to the cave?” 

“I’m not going back to the cave,” Jason says. Peter senses an argument coming and a quick glance at Tim tells him that he feels the same.

“Of course you are,” Nightwing seems like he can’t even imagine another idea. “Alfred will want to see you.” 

“Dickwing,” Jason’s voice is razor sharp. “I am not going to the cave. I am not going anywhere near Batman.” 

“Little Wing,” Nightwing starts. 

“No end of discussion.” 

“Okay, you don’t have to stay the night but at least come eat. You and the kid can get cleaned up and Alfred will probably even wash your clothes for you!” 

Peter obviously knows that Nightwing is right. Alfred would feed them and give them clean clothes because he’d already done that before. But with Batman being there he doubts that anything will be able to convince Jason that it’s worth it. Whatever it is that makes him snap when he’s angry isn’t gone and until it is he doubts that Jason will put anyone at too much risk. Not after what happened at the Titan’s tower. 

“We’re not going to the cave. Grayson let’s go,” and with that Jason is storming off. Peter looks between Nightwing and Tim. He’d give them a sympathetic smile if his face wasn’t still hidden by the helmet. 

“Sorry, see you later Robin,” Peter hops to his feet and runs after Jason. There’s going to be a lot of work to do if he wants to be able to help Jason get back with his family. Sure there are probably more pressing things that Peter should be working on, like getting back out as Spider-man, or maybe finding a way to travel between universes without magic. But Jason clearly needs help with this and if Peter gets it. He’d struggle too if he got the option to go back to his family. Because things ended so badly before, what if he messed up again? If he’d lost control and hurt them like Jason has hurt his then he’d probably lock himself up somewhere and throw away the key. But Peter and Jason aren’t the same. Jason clearly needs his family's help to get whatever is going on with him back under control. So Peter will put his own problems aside, and he’ll do what he can to get Jason back home. That’s what needs his attention the most right now. 

Chapter Text

Bruce

Despite what his children may believe Bruce is not an idiot. He sits in the Batcave now after everyone has settled in for the night. Dick and Wally are upstairs and Bruce is pretending that Wally is in the guest wing and not in the same room as his son because even though they are both consenting adults Bruce would very much like to be ignorant to his eldest son's dating life. For his own sanity. Tim has gone home to his own house despite Bruce’s once again repeated attempt to get him to consider staying at the Manor more often when his parents are away, or permanently. Bruce would feel a lot better with both boys under his roof where he knows their safe. Of course, he’d like it even more if all three of his boys were together but he isn’t sure that its something they’ll ever be able to accomplish. 

Jason coming back to life is a miracle but it’s hard to feel that way when Bruce has seen first hand just how much the boy has changed. He’d run every test he could think of. He’d searched and searched for some explanation. But Jason’s body was gone from his grave. His coffin showed no signs of ever having had a body in it. So it might be his son’s body running around committing crimes in Gotham, but something else was controlling him. When Jason’s mask had been removed he’d revealed not only his identity but also his other symptoms. The white streak at the front of his hair, the almost luminescent green eyes. It had a Lazarus pit written all over it. So he was healed by the Lazarus pit but the Lazarus pit couldn’t bring the dead back to life. Something else had to have brought him back, someone else. Who was it that turned Jason into what he is now? His training has clearly gone beyond what he’d been taught by fifteen. 

“Will you be going to bed soon sir?” Alfred asks as he comes to stand beside Bruce’s chair. Bruce hums a reply and waves a hand at the computer in front of him. 

“The list of volunteers from the disaster site. A Todd and a Grayson were registered as arriving late to volunteer,” He explains. Alfred raises an eyebrow. 

“Not entirely obscure names though,” he says. Bruce’s frown deepens. Alfred is keeping things from him too. 

“I suppose not. But combined with the fact that apparently Robin, and Nightwing’s mask camera’s malfunctioned in that same time frame it’s a bit suspicious.” 

“It’s long past time that you should be in bed sir. You have an early morning meeting regarding Wayne enterprises donations to the recovery effort,” Alfred turns and heads back up the stairs. Bruce rests his chin on his fist and stares at the computer screen. His children are hiding something from him and he suspects that it involves their wayward brother. Bruce just doesn’t know yet, and he doesn’t know if he can trust it. Surely if they thought that Jason was a danger they would have reported it wouldn’t they? Tim has had two close encounters with him now. 

Bruce lets out a long breath before getting to his feet and heading up to the Manor. He needs to figure this out soon. 

Chapter Text

Peter

“So I have an idea,” Tim says as he drops down to sit next to Peter on the edge of the stage. He’s still in his school uniform with the world's largest travel mug of coffee in one hand, Peter checks the time on his watch and realizes that Tim must have left school early again to get to the Opera house so quickly. He’s been coming here almost every day since the first night. Between school and patrol at least, then often shows up when his patrols are finished to crash onto the sleeping bag that now lives next to Peter’s own or to work on one of the many projects they’ve come up with to improve the Opera house. 

“What kind of plan?” Peter asks. Tim digs around in his backpack and pulls out a large bag of skittles that he hands over to Peter. 

“A great plan,” Tim says. Peter narrows his eyes in suspicion but Skittles are his favorite so he decides they’re worth whatever trouble Tim wants to get them into. 

“Peter, do not let him bribe you,” Jason snaps. He’s down in what Peter and Tim have dubbed his villain lair, kneeling on the ground beside his bike as he tries to fix it. Someone had shot it while he was out last night and he’d had to wake Peter up to get him to lift it into the building.  

“I’m broke,” Peter says. “I’m very susceptible to bribes.” He throws a skittle up into the air and catches it in his mouth. 

“I think you should come on patrol with me tonight,” Tim says. Peter considers it. He’s been pouring over some maps of Gotham for the past few days, studying crime reports and police calls. He learned quickly when he first got started as Spider-man that he can’t just go out there blind and in a world like this where he doesn’t know anything about anything could end up with him getting into all sorts of trouble. He’d figured that he’d be better off patrolling during the day when Batman and the rogues were less likely to be out causing problems. Spider-man started out as a way for him to help out the little guys and it seems like something Gotham really needs. 

“That’s a terrible idea,” Jason stands up and walks to where Tim’s legs dangle into the orchestra pit. Tim moves them out of the way quickly to avoid Jason grabbing him. 

“It’s a great idea,” Tim says back. Peter picks out some of the red skittles then holds them out to Jason. 

“Why is it a good idea?” He asks. Jason flips Tim off and takes the offered skittles. 

“B won’t be with me tonight,” Tim says. “He’s got a case that he wants me to stay away from so he’s ‘giving me freedom’ to patrol on my own.” 

“There is no way he’s actually doing that,” Jason says. 

“Oh I’m sure he’ll be tracking my location and listening to the comms. Plus with Nightwing being back in town he’ll probably drop in to keep an eye on me. But the comms are easy enough to fake with Oracle’s help.” 

“Oracle,” Jason says with a sigh. He holds out his hand and Peter reaches down to yank him up onto the stage. 

“She’s part of the Joker hate club too, you’re gonna have to face her eventually.” Tim says. Jason lays back on the stage looking up at the hole in the ceiling. Peter had brought tarps up to the roof to try and keep some of the rain out but Gotham had been surprisingly dry the past few days so they’d opened the tarps back up to try and get some fresh air inside. 

“Shouldn’t everyone be part of the Joker hate club?” Peter asks. 

“You only get to be part of the club if you’ve been brutalized by the Joker,” Tim says. 

“I fucking hate you,” Jason says. 

“Mutual,” Tim answers. Peter rolls his eyes fondly. They might bicker pretty constantly but Jason’s gotten up early most mornings to go and get them breakfast food so Tim won’t go to school hungry, apparently he won’t eat unless you force him to. He also barely complains about the fact that Tim is basically living with them now even though he has at least two mansions and probably a couple summer houses he could visit if he wanted to. Peter doesn’t know why Tim seems to prefer being here with them but he enjoys the other teens' company so he isn’t complaining either. 

“Okay so do I need to meet Oracle in order to go on patrol with you?” Peter pulls Jason’s hand closer and makes him hold it still so he can separate out the rest of the red skittles. 

“You should meet her whether or not you come on patrol with me. She works at the Gotham library during the day. I know you both want to go to the library,” Tim leans across Peter to take one of the red skittles out of Jason’s hand. Surprisingly Jason doesn’t seem to have an argument against this and Peter’s pretty sure it’s just because of the prospect of all of the books. 

“Okay let’s do that then,” Peter says.

“Cool let me change real quick and then we can go,” Tim gets to his feet and heads up for the sleeping box. He’s been bringing more and more stuff along with him and it’s sort of turning into a confusion of belongings up there. Peter and Tim’s clothes are similar enough in size that they’ve given up on keeping them separate and Jason seems to just drop his wherever he happens to be when he’s changing. They’re going to need to do laundry soon though and Peter’s not looking forward to that. 

“B is going to be watching when you patrol with Tim. He’s been sniffing around,” Jason says. Peter eats a few skittles. 

“I’ll be able to sense him if he does. He won’t be able to follow me here,” Peter hopes at least. He hadn’t been able to sense the bat on the roof of the Titan’s tower but there was a lot going on. 

“I’ll be on comms too. I’ve got my own shit to work on tonight but I’ll come if you need help.” 

“I don’t know if you remember but I used to do this stuff solo in my own world.” 

“Yeah but this is Gotham. It’s not going to be like your New York. This place is messed up and you’ve avoided most of it for now but that’s not going to last forever.” 

“Then isn’t it better that I’m going out and learning it with someone who does know this stuff? Tim’s brain works the same as mine just with more caffeine, we’ll be great together.” 

“I’ll say a prayer for anyone you menaces run into tonight,” Jason sits up and pops his handful of skittles into his mouth before jumping back down into his lair and grabs his jacket from where he’d flung it onto a desk. He does tuck a few guns into it but he doesn’t go for his usual set up or the helmet so Peter will count it as a win. 

Once Tim comes back from changing out of his school uniform the three of them leave the Opera House through the alley exit and head towards the Gotham library. There’s definitely a chill in the air and Peter knows it’s only a matter of time before winter comes. He needs to figure out how to insulate the Opera House better before then. For now the curtains closed around the box and the space heater they have up there does enough but he doubts it will hold up to a proper winter. 

“Where is the library?” Peter asks as Jason leads them out of Crime Alley. Tim has pulled his phone out of his pocket and is rapidly typing away on it. 

“Not far, like fifteen to twenty minute walk maybe,” 

“If no one tries to mug us on the way,” Tim adds as he hops over a crack in the pavement just before it can trip him. 

“Twenty minutes for sure if someone tries to mug us,” Jason agrees. Peter thinks that he really shouldn’t like Gotham as much as he does. The weather has alternated between cloudy smog filled skies and rain the entire time he’s been here and the ability to not have someone trying to mug or pickpocket him on his way to get anywhere is not one he has. He of course has been able to get himself out of those attempts with his wallet still in his possession but if he didn’t have his spider sense he’d be screwed. 

“If there’s so much daytime crime then why does Batman and co only come out at night?” Peter asks, turning his head to the side to properly look at Tim. 

“Because the heavy hitters come out at night,” Tim says. 

“Besides, most of the daytime criminals are hardly a threat,” Jason adds. “Gothamites know how to handle a mugging or a pickpocket and anyone who isn’t a Gotham native probably has it coming.” 

“I’m not a Gotham native,” Peter points out. 

“Yeah but you probably would be if you were from this world,” Jason says casually. 

“Why do you say that?” Peter asks. As he processes Jason’s words it's like the last puzzle piece clicks into place his brain and he stops walking. Jason and Tim both stop and turn to look at him. Peter wonders how he could have been so slow to catch it. The reactions that Jason, Alfred, and Tim had to seeing him without his mask. Tim had said he looked like Richie Wayne. Jason had taken Peter to Wayne manor. Because Jason was also a Wayne. So Richie Wayne was Jason’s brother, but the only brother that he talked about was Nightwing. So Nightwing was Richie Wayne and Jason had asked Peter about his parents names. His Father, Richard, and then Jason had asked him about finding any family he has in this world. 

Peter snatches Tim’s phone out of his hand and has typed Richard Wayne into the search engine before either of the two can stop him. He switches to the images tab and clicks the first picture. It’s his dad. Younger than Peter had ever known him and without the glasses he’d always worn. But that was him. That was Richard Parker. The phone cracks in Peter’s hand. 

He’s not in Gotham anymore. He’s four years old sitting on the steps outside of Aunt May and Uncle Ben’s house. His stuffed elephant clutched in his arms. Any minute now a car is going to pull up to the curb and his dad will jump out of the driver’s seat. He’ll run towards Peter and Peter will throw himself off the top step because he knows his dad will catch him. His dad will toss him up into the air and for just a moment Peter will feel like he’s flying and he won’t be scared because he knows his dad is there and that his dad will always catch him. 

But the car never pulled up. Peter had sat on that step as the sun sank lower. The phone had been ringing in the house and then Aunt May was crying but Peter had waited. He waited and then Ben had come to sit beside him, his arm around Peter’s shoulders and Uncle Ben had cried so Peter cried too. 

“Peter! Pete!” There are hands on Peter’s shoulders, they are not Uncle Ben’s hands but his spider sense is whispering to him familiar, safe, friend. So Peter does not worry. Does not fight as the hands lift him from the ground, as he’s held against a chest. The thump of a familiar heartbeat in his ears. He drifts, lost in memories. The almost forgotten sound of his father’s laughter echoing in his ears. 

Chapter Text

Jason

 “Get the door,” Jason orders as he hurries up the steps of the Gotham library, Peter is completely silent in his arms. His face turned into Jason’s jacket away from the wind. He’s shaking but Jason is pretty sure it’s not from the cold. He curses himself silently as Tim opens the door for him. He should have prepared Peter better for this. He remembers how he’d reacted to finding out he had another mother. Peter, who had lost his Parents at an even younger age than Jason, of course finding out was going to be a shock. He hurries into the main part of the library. “Goddamn it Replacement.” He snaps at Tim. Because Dick is there. Of course Dick is there. He should have snatched the phone away from Tim, who was definitely texting him, the second he saw him with it on their walk. Of course it was broken now, still crushed in Peter’s hand. 

 Dick is sitting on the desk beside Barbara. His head had been thrown back in one of his obnoxiously loud laughs when they entered. His gaze sharpens on them and he’s on his feet in second. 

 “What’s going on?” He asks. Jason holds Peter more firmly in his arms. He doesn’t know if Dick’s presence will help snap Peter out of wherever he’s gone or if it will make it worse. 

 “I’m using the office,” Jason says without bothering to explain. He heads towards the office in the back of the library that Barbara uses for her nightly work. The room is mostly soundproof and dark. Peter probably needs somewhere like that. The door is already swinging open when he reaches it and he’s glad because he definitely would have broken the lock. He goes inside and sets Peter down in the chair. 

 “Jay?” Dick says, there’s a click of the door closing. Jason keeps himself between the two of them, keeping Peter’s face hidden from his brother. 

 “I don’t know what happened,” He says as he puts his hands back on Peter’s shoulders. “Pete? Hey, can you hear me?” 

 “Talk me through it,” Dick orders and Jason apparently hasn’t forgotten how to follow his brothers orders because he immediately wants to do it and he kind of wants to be able to hand this off because clearly Peter is going through something emotional and of all of them Dick is the best equipped to deal with emotions but he still doesn’t know if Dick is the right choice, because he’d seen the phone screen before it had gone dark. He’d seen the picture of Dick that Peter had pulled up. He’d heard the barely audible whisper of dad from Peter as he’d crushed the phone. 

 “We were just walking and I… I think I said something that made him connect the dots.” 

 “What dots? Who is this Jay?” Dick takes a few steps closer but he doesn’t try to move Jason out of the way or anything.

 “His name is Peter. He’s the spider kid. The one that you met in Bludhaven.” 

 “He’s a meta?” Dick says thoughtfully. “Is it his powers?”

 “I don’t think so. I think… Shit,” Jason turns around to face his brother making sure that the bulk of his body is still keeping Peter from view. “You can’t freak out.” 

 “Why would I freak out?” Dick asks with a frown. 

 “Peter is from another universe. I’m not sure exactly what happened but he got sent here to Gotham and we’ve been living together for a few weeks now.” 

 “Another universe?” 

 “Yes. So he is not from this universe, and his own is actually further in the future than ours. So not only is there time travel but again this is not his universe.”

 “Why do you keep repeating that?” 

 “Because I need to make sure that you hear me.” 

 “I do, I understand.” 

 “Okay… He said that he was sent here specifically because there was no other version of himself that exists here. That he could be safe because of that. Or the world would or something. I haven’t actually asked for more details but Tim probably has. They talk too fast for me to keep up when they get into it.” 

 “Jay. Take a breath and tell me what’s going on.” Dick says, reaching out to put a hand on Jason’s arm. 

 “I think he figured out that while he might not exist there are alternate versions of his family here. Or… at least his dad who he’s lost in his world” 

 “So he saw his dad alive here and is freaking out.” 

 “Yes basically.” 

 “Can I try to help him?” Dick asks. “If he’s having a panic attack or dissociating I might be able to help ground him. Bring him back out of it.”

 “I don’t know if you’ll be able to help or if you’ll make it worse.” 

 “How would I make it worse?” Dick asks. Jason brings a hand up to push his hair back. He weighs the options in his head. Better or worse? He has to make a decision. If Peter gets worse then maybe Jason can take him to Leslie. If Dick’s here then he probably drove. It’ll be easier than moving through the streets carrying Peter and despite their not quite resolved issues he’s sure that Dick would hand the keys over willingly. Decision made he steps to the side and lets his brother get a look at Peter. Dick goes to move closer to the teen and then stops, the frown on his face deepening as his gaze drifts over Peter’s features. Jason shifts nervously. 

 “Other universe, Time travel.” Jason reminds his brother. 

 “Who are his parents?” Dick asks. 

 “He… He said their names were Richard and Mary, his last name is Parker,” Jason’s starting to think this might be a mistake.

 “Where are they?” Dick’s voice has taken on the low tone that usually means he’s about to get very violent. Jason isn’t sure it’s a good idea to tell him Peter’s whole life story right now. 

 “Gone,” Jason replies. Dick closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Then he drops to his knees and takes Peter’s hands in his own, gently massaging them. 

 “Peter?” He says, his voice sounding steady even though Jason can see the telltale signs of his own freak out. “Peter, can you hear me?” Peter blinks sluggishly. It’s not great but it’s more than Jason had gotten out of him on the street at least. 

 “He has enhanced senses,” Jason says. “That’s what the headphones are for. He can still hear you with them on.” 

 “Thank you Little Wing,” Dick says. “It’s alright Peter, you can take your time. You’re safe here. We’ve got you. Just breathe okay? Can you hear my breathing? Try and match it if you can.” Peter lets out a gasp of air and then takes a deep breath in. Dick keeps his own breathing even, inhaling through his nose and letting the breath out through his mouth until Peter is doing the same thing. 

 “Good job Peter,” Dick says. Jason remembers that voice. Remembers sitting in the manor beside his brother after a hard patrol and being wrapped in a blanket with his brother’s arm around him. It had worked on him then. He can see it working on Peter now. Slowly but surely that dull far away look vanishes from his eyes. He’s blinking more frequently and his breathing is even. Jason realizes that he might actually have to thank the replacement for telling Dick they’d be here. 

 Peter slumps forward suddenly and Jason is about to start panicking again but Dick just takes it in stride, not even hesitating to pull the teen into his arms in a tight hug. Peter’s whole body shudders and then he’s holding onto Dick just as tight, tighter probably with his enhanced strength. 

 “That's it. That’s alright,” Dick says, his hand smoothing down Peter’s back. “Welcome back.” 

 “I’m sorry,” Peter gasps. “I’m sorry… I… I'm… You’re…”

 “It's okay, I promise you’re okay. Just take your time. Jay said you’d had quite a shock and believe me I’m not sure I’d handle that kind of news either,” Dick has a soft sort of sad smile on his face and Jason knows that he probably gets it. He’d lost both of his parents at the same time. He can probably imagine what it would feel like if he’d found an alternate version of either of them. 

 “You almost died,” Peter’s voice comes out as a whisper. Dick looks up and meets Jason’s eyes as they realize the same thing Peter must have. Peter had pulled Dick out of Bludhaven just in time. He had almost seen his father die again. Had almost lost Dick before even knowing him. 

 “But I didn’t,” Dick says firmly. “I didn’t die. I was barely even singed because you pulled me out of there. You pulled me out and you kept me from hitting the building. I walked away from it with nothing more than a slightly cooked suit.” Peter laughs a bit and it’s weak but at least it’s a laugh. He sits up straight once again. Dick lets him go but he keeps his hands on Peter’s arms as the two of them look at each other. Jason wonders how his brother is feeling. Peter isn’t technically his kid, but the genetics are definitely strong and Jason has no doubt that if they ran Peter’s DNA it would come back as a match to his brother. It’s probably a really weird feeling meeting someone that could be his son even if they’re a little too close in age. 

 “You’re okay?” Peter asks. He wipes at his face with the sleeve of the sweater he’d borrowed from Tim. 

 “Yeah, I’m good.” Dick promises. Peter sniffles a little as his eyes scan over Dick’s face.

 “Sorry… you just…. I’ve never seen. I mean there were pictures but…” 

 “I’m young,” Dick finishes for him. 

 “Yeah… I don’t… I was only four. The last time I saw my dad so… So my memories aren’t great,” Peter shrugs his shoulders a bit. Jason can see Dick’s hands tighten just a bit on the teens arms. 

 “You were only four?” Dick asks. 

 “Yeah… I was… My parents traveled a lot for work. They were coming home… and their plane crashed. My aunt and uncle raised me after that,” Peter seems to notice Tim’s phone where it had fallen to the floor and cringes a bit. 

 “Don’t worry about the phone Timmy can get a new one easily,” Dick says, pulling Peter’s focus back to his. “Are you doing okay? Do you need another hug? Because I love hugs and Jason is a terrible little brother and never gives me enough hugs.” Peter laughs as he shakes his head a bit. 

“I’m okay, Jason lets me hug him whenever I want,” He brags. Dick puffs out his cheeks and looks up at Jason with a pout. 

“Why am I not good enough for your hugs?” 

“Because you’re my brother and annoying?” Jason says with an eye roll. “Besides the chaos gremlin you replaced me with is trying to weasel his way into being the favorite uncle and I won’t have it.” 

“Oh my god you’re my uncles,” Peter says, and then he laughs a real laugh this time. Jason can’t help the grin that tugs at his mouth as he looks down at the teenager. Dick of course has a blinding smile on his face. Jason feels like he’ll need sunglasses if he looks at it for too long. A soft knock on the door interrupts them before the door swings open revealing Tim and Barbara on the other side. 

“Everyone good?” Tim asks, eyes darting between the three of them. Barbara pushes him out of the way so she can see in. Her jaw drops when she sees Peter. 

“Oh my god look at him!” She says as she wheels herself into the room. Peter smiles at her shyly and glances up at Jason. Who tries not to feel too smug about Peter still looking at him for reassurance instead of Dick. 

“Peter this is Barbara Gordan,” He introduces. “Babs, this is Peter Parker. Dickhead’s alternate universe offspring.” 

“You can’t insult me in front of my child!” Dick yells.

“Oh god he’s going to be more insufferable than ever,” Tim says with a defeated look in his eyes. “Dick I don’t even think there's a ten year difference between you two right now.” 

“Like that hardly matters. Bruce is only ten years older than me and he’s basically still my dad,” Dick turns quickly to look at Peter. “Not that I’m trying to replace your actual dad or anything. Sorry, please stop me if I say anything stupid. I just wanted to make a point.” 

“It’s okay,” Peter says. He gets to his feet and rolls his shoulders trying to shake off some of the tension of the past hour or so. Actually Jason doesn’t even know how long it’s been. He reaches out and ruffles Peter’s hair. Peter ducks away from him and picks up the remains of Tim’s phone off the floor. He holds it out to Tim looking a bit ashamed. “Sorry.” 

“No worries,” Tim takes the remains and drops them into his backpack. “There’s a new model coming out next week anyway I’ll have Bruce get it for me. Come on, let's leave these old coots on their own. I wanna show you the science section. Bruce paid to have the library rebuilt after an earthquake took it out and I insisted that they increase it.” Tim grabs Peter’s arm and pulls him out of the room without looking at anyone else. They’re already talking about some sort of wormhole or other before they’re out of sight. Jason wishes he’d run after them when he notices both Babs and Dick looking at him. 

“So you’re not dead then,” Barbara says with her arms crossed. 

“I got better,” he says. 

“But you were actually dead?” She asks. Jason raises an eyebrow at her in suspicion but her face gives nothing away. 

“You want to see my autopsy scar?” He asks, lifting his shirt up just enough for them to see the start of it. Dick looks like he’s going to be sick and Barbara just looks sad. 

“They gave you an autopsy?” Dick asks. Jason furrows his brow as he looks at his brother. 

“You didn’t know?”

“No I…” 

“He was off-world,” Barbara says for him. “You were already buried by the time he found out.” 

“Right… Right Tim said that,” Jason pushes back at the green that threatens to rise up. 

“You’ve been talking to Tim a lot?” Dick asks. 

“Can’t get rid of him, just keeps showing up for slumber parties with Peter.” 

“Yeah he kinda has a way of doing that… He… We didn’t replace you Jason. I would never replace you. I could never replace you.”

“Look lets just… The kid already gave me the whole speech okay so lets… Let’s just drop it. I don’t need to be getting worked up here,” Jason runs his hand through his hair and tries to remember the breathing exercises Alfred had taught him as a child to help him when he lost his temper. 

“Sorry,” Dick says. He gets back to his feet finally and reaches out for Jason for a moment before hesitating. “Can I?” he asks. And Jason hates that he has to ask because he never had to ask before Jason died. He could just reach out and grab onto Jason whenever he felt like it and as much as he misses that casual contact he can’t have it anymore. He needs Dick to ask because he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to control himself properly. He’s been doing good. He hasn’t really lost himself to the green haze at all in the last week but he also hasn’t had any run ins with Dick or Bruce and since Dick has known he was back he must have been giving Jason space before confronting him. 

“Yeah,” Jason says with a sigh. Dick moves quickly, pulling Jason into a hug. It’s not as tight as it would normally be though, he’s leaving room for Jason to pull away if he needs to and it's so goddamned considerate that Jason considers punching him in the stomach just because. 

Chapter Text

Dick

 Dick feels like his emotions have locked inside a tilt a whirl over the past few days. Week? Maybe months if he’s being honest. A therapist would probably tell him years. But the past few weeks have been particularly insane. They lost Stephanie just a few weeks ago, and then Red Hood was running around stealing kryptonite and killing crime lords. The Society took out Bludhaven and Dick knows he can’t let that go by unpunished so he’s going to have to go after deathstroke but then they’d gotten the alert that the Titan’s tower was under attack and Bruce had sent Tim out there because he thought being away from Gotham would help him deal with Stephanie’s death but somehow no one had ever thought to remove Jason’s access which honestly why would they? It’s not like they could have been prepared for him to come back to life. Do they need to be worried about the other fallen Titans? Jesus christ do they have to come up with contingency plans for all of the fallen heroes coming back as zombies? Dick does not have time for zombie super heroes! Jason is alive and he’s not, well he’s not doing okay mentally clearly so they need to figure out how to help him because Dick’s baby brother is alive and he doesn’t know where they’re holed up right now but it’s definitely going to be in crime alley so he’ll have the upperhand but now he’s got Peter with him and Dick’s not stupid he knows that if Jason is avoiding Bruce then he’s going to try to keep Peter away from Bruce too which will make it even harder for Dick to get to know his son and holy fucking shit he has a kid! Sure it’s an alternate universe version of himself that is actually Peter’s dad but biologically he is Peter’s dad! 

 “Dick,” Barbara snaps at him. Dick startles from his thoughts and focuses back on the present, tilting his head down to meet Barbara’s eyes. They’re back at the checkout counter. Dick of course perched on the desk again and Barbara in front of her computer. Distantly he can hear Tim and Peter’s excited chatter coming from the non-fiction section. 

 “Yeah Babs?” He asks, plastering a smile on his face. Barbara does not look impressed. 

 “Stop freaking out.” 

 “I’m not freaking out.” 

 “You are absolutely freaking out,” Jason says. He’s sitting on the floor behind the desk. One leg stretched out and the other knee bent so he can prop the book he’s reading on it. It’s such a Jason pose that Dick almost starts crying again. Instead he taps one finger on the top of Jason’s head and waits until he sees his subtle nod before tangling his fingers in his brother’s curls. Jason is alive. Jason is really alive. Dick bends down and presses a kiss to the top of his head. Jason grunts in annoyance but doesn’t try to get away from the affection. 

 “I’m processing,” Dick declares. It doesn’t take the world’s greatest detective to tell that neither of them believe him. Which is unfair because Jason’s been gone for almost five years and he should not be able to read Dick just as well as he could before he left, left not died because Dick can not think about his baby brother’s death again. 

 “He’s safe with me you know,” Jason says. 

 “I know. I watched the video footage from the tower. Even when you were losing it you made sure not to hurt Peter,” Dick does know. Because Jason was always looking out for the kids when he went out as Robin. 

 “I don’t know about Tim though,” Jason admits, his body still looks relaxed but his thumb moves nervously over the page of his book. Dick thinks briefly that Jason isn’t the only one to remember how to read his siblings' emotions. 

 “How many days has he slept over wherever you and Peter are hiding out?” Dick asks. 

 “Since we saw you in Bludhaven. Not that the kid actually sleeps. Him and Peter are turning the whole place into a fucking science experiment. 

 “I said sorry about the mess in your villain lair!” Peter’s voice calls from somewhere in the stacks, quickly followed by Tim shushing him. 

 “Villain lair?” Barbara asks, looking down at Jason skeptically. 

 “You keep a small weapons stash and a couple explosives in one spot and suddenly all the kids are declaring it a villain lair,” Jason huffs. 

 “Oh you totally have a villain lair,” Barbara says with a laugh. Jason mumbles a few curses but he drops his head against Dick’s leg as he does it so he’s not gonna scold him for his language. 

 “What exactly was the mess?” Dick asks. He scratches gently at Jason’s scalp and is very proud of himself when his brother melts. 

 “Web fluid,” Jason grumbles. 

 “Web fluid.” Barbara repeats. 

 “Oh yeah Peter’s the Spider-man,” Tim says hopping over the counter himself and dropping into an empty office chair. Dick looks around warily but the Library is empty except for the five of them. 

 “He misread my handwriting,” Peter sets a stack of books on the counter. “Thought a four was a nine.” 

 “Your handwriting is bad and you should feel bad,” Tim says, spinning his chair around. 

 “See if I help you make unlimited green energy now,” Peter grumbles. 

 “You will,” Tim shrugs. “You’re a good guy. Good guys always want to make the world a better place.” 

 “Dad’s incoming,” Barbara says. Dick turns his head to look at the door as Commissioner Gordan enters the library. He stops when he spots Dick and Tim and lets out a long sigh, then his eyes land on Peter and he stops in place. Dick wonders how he’ll handle it if he notices Jason behind the desk, Jim Gordan had been one of the only four people present at Jason's funeral. And not only has Jason Todd been miraculously brought back to life but he’s also the Red Hood. Jason has tensed up in his spot on the floor but he hasn’t pulled away so Dick keeps carding his fingers through his hair. 

 “Don’t tell me there’s another one of you,” Gordon says as he walks up to the desk. Jason’s leg is probably visible now if he’d look down but he’s focused on Peter. 

 “Dick’s cousin,” Tim blurts out. 

 “Cousin?” Gordon asks. “I didn’t know you had more blood family.” 

 “He lived with a different circus,” Dick lies easily. “We lost touch for a bit.” 

 “Yeah but now he’s come to visit because he’s thinking about going to GothamU after he graduates,” Tim adds. Gordon looks sick of their shit already. 

 “You do all the flippy stuff too then?” Gordon asks. Peter plants both hands on the counter and lifts himself up into a handstand. He makes the movement look effortless and his form is perfect. Dick’s going to cry. “Wonderful. Do you still have time for lunch?” 

 “Yes of course, these four are going to keep an eye on things for me,” Barbara moves her chair back from the desk and waits while Jason tucks his leg in so she can get by. 

 “Four,” Gordon repeats as his eyes drift down. Dick wonders if it was the movement or the number that really got his attention. Tim flicks something at Peter and the teen loses his balance and falls, tucking into a roll to lessen the impact. Gordon steps back to avoid being knocked over and Jason tucks himself under the desk further to keep from being seen. Dick swings his legs casually as Peter pops to his feet and gives a dramatic bow. 

 “Let’s get going dad,” Barbara says as she heads for the door. 

 “Waynes,” Gordon says, giving them a curt wave before following her out. 

 “Sometimes I think it’s a miracle we’re able to keep anything secret,” Tim says. He nudges Jason out of the way with his foot and then scoots up to the computer to start checking Peter’s books out under his own library card. 

 “There’s no way the commish hasn’t figured it out,” Jason says as he takes his spot by Dick’s legs again. “After all this time?” 

 “I don’t think he wants to figure it out,” Tim says. 

 “Better for his sanity.” Dick agrees. Jason knocks his hand against Dick’s leg before picking up his book again. Dick returns his hand to Jason’s hair. Tim brings something up on the computer screen and turns it a bit.

 “This is what I’m working on,” He says. Peter leans over the counter to look at. 

 “Oh wow you guys do like the whole crime scene detective thing huh?” Peter asks. 

 “You don’t?” Tim looks at him. 

 “I mean… Not really? Day to day I just kind of handle the small stuff you know? Muggers and bike thieves and stuff. I do sometimes fight like some people with powers. Sandman, Lizard, there was this guy Mysterio but that… well anyway. It’s really usually kinda easy stuff. I tried to do the whole detective thing with The Vulture but I did end up finding out that he was my homecoming date's dad and I wasn’t really good at interrogation.” 

 “I have so many follow up questions,” Tim says. 

 “Are you guys looking at a case?” Dick asks.

 “Yeah Peter’s coming on patrol with me tonight,” Tim says. Dick frowns and considers what to say. Can he say anything? What right does he really have? A coincidental genetic match?

 “It’s fine Dick. We’ll both be on comms. If they need backup we can step in,” Jason says. Peter and Tim seem lost in whatever they’re doing on the computer so Dick looks down at his brother. Jason is right, he knows Peter better at least, if he thinks that they’ll be fine then Dick should trust him. Dick can trust Jason. He can. 

Chapter Text

Peter  

Peter stands at the highest point of the Opera house roof. His suit is on for the first time since their disaster of a trip to Jump City. It feels good to be back. His web supply is fully restored thanks to Tim’s ability to source the supplies they needed, now he has somewhat of a lab set up in the Opera House and after only one slightly disastrous failed attempt Tim has even gotten pretty good at making it himself. 

“Ready?” Tim asks as he lands beside Peter on the roof, back in his Robin suit once more. Peter had thought it was a little silly looking the first time he’d seen it but after seeing what Dick and Jason used to run around in there were definitely improvements.

“Are we in a rush?” Peter asks. 

“No, the deal isn’t happening til one so we have some time. I figured I’d take you along my patrol route and see what we find along the way,” Tim shrugs. 

“Cool. Do you mind if I use my webs? I need to get back in the swing of things,” Peter’s glad his mask hides the shit eating grin on his face. 

“Oh my god it’s genetic,” Tim groans.

“What is?” Peter asks.

“The dumbassery,” 

“Hey!” Dick’s voice comes over their comms. Tim snorts out a laugh and without giving Peter a warning he runs and jumps off the roof. A grappling hook shoots out and Tim swings away. Peter watches him then dives off the roof as well. He shoots off a web and then they’re both off moving through the city quickly. Tim sticks mostly to the roofs, only using his grappling when it’s really necessary. But Peter lets himself fly. It’s been too long since he’s properly swung through a city. Feeling the push of the wind against his suit as he swings. 

“Holy shit,” He hears Tim say with a laugh as he zips by the other vigilante. He lands on the side of a skyscraper and runs up and up to the very top then leaps back, flipping through the air with a whoop of joy. 

“How sticky are you?” Tim asks. 

“Very!” Peter shoots out a web and catches himself before he gets too low. He keeps himself closer to Tim now that he’s had his fun, only throwing in a few unnecessary flips now and again. Tim is surprisingly quick across the rooftops, barely struggling at all to keep up with Peter’s speed. Peter watches him, and sees how his movements are different from what he’s used to seeing on the nights that he’d patrolled with Daredevil.

 It’s a little exciting to be patrolling with someone closer to his own. With Daredevil and the rest of the Avengers Peter always feels like he needs to prove himself. Prove that he’s just as mature and has as much of a right to be doing what he’s doing as they do despite his age. He doesn’t feel any of that with Tim. Tim is younger than him even if it isn’t by much. He started around the same age as well so he probably gets it more than anyone else. 

Tim seems to slow a bit as he reaches the end of the block he’d been running down and instead of taking out his grappling again, he seems to have an idea. Peter swings closer as Tim jumps from the building with his hand held out. Peter rolls his eyes and grabs the other teen's hand, swinging him over to the next row of buildings. Tim tucks into a roll when Peter lets go of his hand and pops up to his feet on the rooftop with a laugh. Peter drops next to him and punches his shoulder. 

“A little warning huh?” 

“I knew you were gonna catch me,” Tim shrugs as he lifts his arm and reveals a small computer built into his glove. 

“Just for that I’m gonna let you fall next time.”

“No you won’t,” Tim closes the cover of the computer. “There’s a silent alarm triggered.” He moves quickly as he heads to the location. Peter lets him get a bit of a head start then swings off the roof to catch up. He figures that he’ll hold back a bit, and see how Tim handles things. Peter’s spider sense tends to give him an advantage when fighting alongside someone, helping him to anticipate their moves but there’s still an adjustment period and he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to wait until they’re actually in the middle of a fight to do that. 

After Tim stops the burglary in process it’s pretty nonstop from there. People say that New York never sleeps but Peter’s pretty sure Gotham has been awake for a lot longer. The crime is never ending. After the first few of the night, Tim and Peter end up having to split up as things are happening too quickly. They keep their comms open though with occasional input from Oracle and Karen directing them to where they’re needed. Dick chimes in a few times throughout the night but they never actually run into him. He’s being kept busy in his own section of the town and running interference with Batman to keep him from getting too close to Peter. That had been Jason’s one stipulation about Peter going out with Tim. He’d insisted that if Batman showed up Peter made himself scarce. Dick, Tim, and Barbara were on strict instructions to distract the bat enough for Peter to get away. There’s no sign of him throughout the night though, Peter has the feeling that's on purpose. 

As one in the morning rolls around Peter and Tim arrive at the location of the supposed arms deal. They crouch on the roof of the building listening to the men gathered inside. Peter can hear what they’re saying easily enough but Tim had planted bugs inside days ago to make sure they gathered the evidence needed to make sure the GCPD could close the case. 

“What’s the plan?” Peter asks, he’s been watching Tim closely throughout the night and has found that he’s extremely efficient when it comes to these things. Half the time he’d shut down the criminals they’d come across so quickly that Peter had barely had time to figure out what he was doing. 

“You’re going to play up the new kid act,” Tim says with a vicious smile. “Go in, talk them up, keep them focused on you. I’ll take them out from the shadows.” 

“You scare me,” Peter says. Tim closes his cape around the rest of his brightly colored costume and then he disappears into the shadows. If Peter’s senses weren’t enhanced he would not have been able to see where the vigilante had gone. Peter bounces on the balls of his feet a bit and shakes himself off to get ready. “Here we go.” He says before swinging off the roof of the building and crashing through one of the windows into the warehouse below. 

“Hey, how's it going?” He asks as he flips away from bullets that are fired immediately. “Whoa whoa whoa that’s unnecessary!” Peter jumps up onto a stack of boxes and crouches down to read the label on the top. 

“Who the hell are you supposed to be?” someone asks. Peter thinks the guy looks a little bit like he might be in charge.

“I’m your friendly neighborhood spider-man of course,” Peter shoots a web, knocking the gun out of the hand of a goon that was aiming at him. “Not that I actually have a neighborhood right now. I’m still working that out. See where I’m needed and all that you know? Hey, do you guys have any recommendations? Also, where can I find a good sandwich? Because in Queen’s I always got my sandwiches from Delmar’s but now I have to figure it out again.” He moves around the room as he talks. Dodging the goons who try to take shots at him and webbing up as many weapons as he can reach. They’re so focused on him that they don’t notice their numbers being quickly picked off. 

“Okay okay, no recommendations. I get it. Trust me, born and raised New Yorkers. I can’t stand the transplants there either. You’re all probably sick of tourists coming in and being idiots. But I promise I’m gonna be good. My roommate is already teaching me the rules. Carry a gas mask, don’t drink the tap water.” Peter webs up the maybe boss and hangs him from the ceiling. Everyone else is down now, Robin is kneeling down behind a group of them as he zip ties their hands together. 

“That was fun, we should do this again sometime,” Peter says to the boss. 

“Fuck you’re with the bats?” He asks. 

“Oh well I think technically a Robin is a type of bird,” Peter shrugs his shoulders and then goes over to Tim. “Now what?” 

“Now we wait for GCPD so we can turn over what we’ve got.” 

“That’s cool,” Peter says. “Me and the NYPD are kinda in a love hate relationship. I usually just leave a note and get on my way.” 

“That’s stupid. There’s a lot of corruption in the police force. We stick around and make sure the right ones handle things.” 

“I guess that makes sense. They don’t try to arrest you?” 

“Not in Gotham,” Tim shrugs. 

“Huh,” Peter trusts Tim but he still jumps himself up to the roof when the GCPD does show up. He’s not going to leave Tim behind on his own. Still, he’s also not a fan of getting handcuffed or having to break handcuffs, and sure this world clearly doesn’t have anything like the Mutant Registration Act or the Sokovia Accords but vigilantism is still illegal. There are still probably freaks out there who would love to get him strapped down to a table and see what they could do with him.

He’s sitting cross legged on the ceiling, listening as Tim walks the detective through the case when he feels the slight buzz of his spider sense. He turns his head and spots a slight figure dressed in all black sitting in the shadows of the rafters. He can’t see the person’s eyes but he knows that he’s being watched. Whoever it is, is dangerous, and powerful. But not a threat. Peter raises a hand and gives them a slight wave. The figure waves back and then practically vanishes from sight. 

“Ready Spider-man?” Tim asks. Peter drops down beside him, startling several of the cops who apparently failed to notice him up there. 

“Are we all set?” he asks.

“What the fuck is that?” The detective asks. Peter looks from the detective to Tim back to the detective then points a finger at himself. 

“Me? Spider-man. Nice to meet you.” 

“Spiders? I thought you all stuck with birds and bats.” 

“Oh I’m new,” Peter says, pointing up at the boss still webbed to the ceiling. “Spider makes more sense don’t you think?” 

“How the hell do we get him out of that stuff?” 

“It dissolves in two hours,” Peter says with a shrug. Tim laughs at that. 

“No wonder your cops don’t like you.” 

“Hey, they dislike me even without the webs.” Peter puts his hands on his hips and looks up at the ceiling. There’s a flash of metal through the air and the web holding the guy to the ceiling breaks. Peter prepares himself to catch him but Nightwing swings down through a window and grabs the guy's ankle lowering him down to the ground. 

“Hey boys, how’s it going?” Dick asks as he lands behind Peter and Tim throwing his arms around their shoulders. Tim frowns and tries to shrug him off. 

“Great,” The detective mutters before walking away quickly. 

“He seems nice,” Peter says. 

“He does his job,” Tim says. “We didn’t need backup N.” 

“No but I missed your cute grumpy little face,” Dick says. 

“Let’s go,” Tim says, and Peter’s pretty sure Tim is rolling his eyes under his mask. Dick and Tim both fire off their grappling hooks and leave the building. Peter takes pity on the cops and tosses a bottle of the web dissolvent to one of them before following after the birds. They’re probably going to have to collect the weapons Peter had webbed down as well after all. He swings up into the air and lands on top of the roof next door where the two vigilantes are waiting for him. 

“What now?” He asks. 

“It’s a school night so you and Robin are off from here,” Dick says. “B’s waiting for Tim’s debrief because he’s supposed to be back home by one thirty on school nights. I volunteered to fetch him so B didn’t run into our spider friend.” 

“I told B I was going to be late tonight because of this case,” Tim sighs. 

“Sucks to suck,” Peter says, patting Tim on the shoulder. Tim looks a bit like he’s going to bite him. 

“You’re going in too,” Dick says. 

“What? Why me?” Peter asks. He’s fully out of adult supervision now thank you very much, he does not need a curfew. 

“It’s still a school night,” Dick says. Peter blinks. 

“I don’t have school.” 

“What? Why don’t you have school?” 

“Uh…. dropped here from another universe? No identity? Being almost eighteen?” Peter says with a shrug. 

“Did you graduate?” Dick asks. 

“What?” 

“Did you graduate high school?” 

“Well… No, but I was basically set to graduate.” 

“But you didn’t. Let’s get you enrolled.” 

“What? No, I'm fine!” Peter insists. “There is more than enough for me to do during the day without having to take time for school.” 

“You can go to school with Tim.” 

“Wait, hang on, let's slow down. I don’t have an identity. Going to school will bring too many questions about my lack of adult supervision and I’m a little over those kinds of questions,” Peter holds his hands up. 

“I think you should definitely come to school with me,” Tim says, looking a little excited by the prospect. Peter groans and holds his head in his hands. 

“Don’t be on his side!” 

“See you could spend more time with Tim. It’s fine, Oracle can have a whole identity and life history set up for you by the morning. I’ll bring you to the school and get you all enrolled.” 

“It’s a private school, think of all the research material we’ll have access to,” Tim tries. 

“This is a terrible idea!” Peter yells. “Hood will agree! It’s a terrible idea.” 

“Actually it’s probably not a bad idea. You should go to school if you have the chance,” Jason’s voice says over his coms. Peter groans, he forgot that Jason had been listening. 

“You didn’t graduate either!” Peter reminds him. 

“And if I wasn’t legally an adult now I would also be going back to school.” 

“You can still go back!” Dick says excitedly. “You’re only nineteen. If we throw enough money at it they won’t complain.” 

“Dickhead, I am not going back to tenth grade.” 

“You can get your GED at least.” 

“Also legally dead.” 

“No no, if I’m not allowed to argue my way out of it then neither are you!” Peter says. 

“Okay okay let’s talk more about this later,” Tim says. “B’s tracker is on the move. He’s going to come for me. Peter gets back to the O… safe house before he runs into you and he and Jason get into another fight.” 

“I’ll make sure he gets back safe,” Dick says. 

“I don’t need a babysitter, I can get back on my own.” Peter is pretty sure he’s not going to have a choice in the school matter. He knows that Dick means well but is there really a point in it? It seems like more trouble than it’s worth. 

“He’s going to be an annoying asshole if you don’t let him,” Tim says, and then he takes off to meet up with Batman somewhere else. 

“Hood?” Peter asks. 

“I’m not gonna be able to get back for a few more hours. Dealing with something over here,” Red Hood says. Peter narrows his eyes at Dick. 

“Sounds like he could use help,” Peter attempts. 

“Absofuckinglutely not.” Red Hood snaps at them. 

“He’s going to see our place!” 

“It was only a matter of time before he weaseled his way in,” Jason sounds resigned. 

“Let’s get going then,” Dick says far too cheerfully. Peter decides to just give up and jumps off the building to swing back towards Crime Alley. He knows that Dick is following him. Peter isn’t really sure how he’s supposed to feel about Dick, to be honest. The idea of seeing his father, of spending real time with him is something that Peter has wanted all his life. Genetically Richard Grayson and Richard Parker are the same person but Peter has to keep reminding himself that realistically they’re not. 

Richard Parker was adopted by the Parker family just after his eighth birthday. He had an older brother named Ben and he grew up to become a biochemist. He married Mary Fitzpatrick and they had a son named Peter Benjamin Parker. Richard Grayson is not the same. He was adopted by Bruce Wayne and grew up as a vigilante. He fought aliens and villains and he was an older brother to Jason and now to Tim as well. Peter’s dad was thirty when Peter was born and Richard Grayson is only twenty-six. So not his dad. Not old enough to be his dad. More like weird age gap siblings if anything at all. 

Pete drops through a hole in the roof of the Opera house not slowing down to see if Dick follows him inside. Peter lands on the stage and moves out of the way as Dick drops down beside him.

“Home sweet home,” Peter says, pulling off his mask and shoving it into his pocket. 

“Oh my god the Opera House,” Dick says with a laugh. “Jason is such a dramatic little brat!” 

“He said it’s the one place in Gotham that Batman would never come,” Peter jumps down into the orchestra pit, releases his suit, and steps out of it before folding it up and setting it on a table Jason had cleared off for him. 

“So you guys are just living here? In the abandoned Opera house?” 

“Yep,” Peter says. He pulls on the sweatpants he’d left for himself and the t-shirt he thinks is probably Tim’s. He’s a little nervous to look up at Dick, the Opera house is unconventional and honestly they could probably find somewhere better. There were plenty of condemned apartments even just in this area. But it had been the first place in Gotham that Peter had felt safe and he’s put in a lot of work to make it liveable. Hell, he just needed to wait for Tim to find him a replacement for palladium and they’d even have an arc reactor to power the place. 

“You were definitely right about the villain layer,” Dick says thoughtfully before jumping down and poking around Jason’s weapon stash. 

“I know right?” I wanna make him a mask like the Phantom of the Opera,” Peter loosens his web shooters and grabs some extra capsules to refill them.

“He’d love that,” Dick laughs. Peter turns to look at him, he’d thought that he’d forgotten his dad’s voice, his laugh. It had been so long since Peter had heard it and their family videos were few and far between so he couldn’t just go back whenever he wanted and listen to it. But he knows it now like it’s just been locked away in the back of his mind. Richard Parker is dead and gone but Richard Grayson is standing right in front of him. Alive and well and seemingly at least somewhat satisfied with his life if not happy with it. 

Peter wonders if he could pretend just for a bit. Pretend that he’s not alone, that he’s got a family that wants him. That’s got a dad that isn’t dead, an uncle that isn’t dead. Friends who haven’t forgotten him. Because Peter knows, he knows that Doctor Strange’s spell worked. Peter was erased from existence in his own world. Ned and MJ have forgotten him. Happy has forgotten him. Pepper and Morgan and Matt and Clint and Rhodey. Not a single one of them remembers that Peter ever existed now. 

“Hey… um, Nightwing?” Peter says hesitantly. Dick stops poking around through Jason’s stuff and looks up at him quickly. His eyes scan over Peter’s face and then he moves over quickly pulling Peter into his arms. Peter clings to the weird Kevlar material of the Nightwing suit and drops his head onto Dick’s shoulder. 

“What’s going on?” Dick asks. He doesn’t try to pull away though and that’s all Peter needs. He can take care of himself. He’s not a child anymore. But just for a minute, just for a few minutes, he wants to pretend.

“N-Nothing,” Peter says breathlessly. 

“Okay,” Dick says. He holds Peter tight, thankfully not pushing him to explain his random breakdown. “I’ll stay here until Jay comes back.” 

“Okay,” Peter sags against him and lets himself be held up. Let himself be weak.

Chapter Text

Jason

It’s nearly dawn when Jason gets back to the Opera house. He plans to just change his clothes and pass out for a couple of hours before he needs to get up and make sure Tim gets to school on time. What he isn’t expecting is to find Dick still there, leaning against a table in the orchestra pit with Peter basically asleep on his feet leaning up against Dick. 

“What happened?” He asks, dropping into the pit and moving over to them. 

“I didn’t want to wake him,” Dick says quietly. 

“He’s sleeping like that?” Jason takes off his helmet and sets it on the table. 

“Yeah, he’s stuck to my suit. Is that normal?” 

“Oh yeah spider thing,” Jason grabs his mask solvent and takes his domino mask then pours some water onto a washcloth and cleans his face. 

“He was upset when we got back. I didn’t want to push him to find out why,” Dick says. There’s a lot of emotion in his voice as he looks down where Peter’s head rests on his shoulder. Jason’s too tired to try to figure out what they are exactly. 

“He’s been thrown into a new universe and separated from his family and friends. Also, his dead dad is alive here. It’s a lot,” Jason takes off his jacket and starts to remove his body armor. “Isn’t B going to be looking for you?” 

“Told him I was going over to Central City. O covered my tracks,” Dick cards his fingers through Peter’s hair. “Where do you guys sleep? He can’t be too comfortable like this.” 

“If he wasn’t comfortable he wouldn’t have stayed there,” Jason points up at the sleeping box anyway. “That one’s where the bedrolls are. Try not to trip on everyone’s junk.” 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Stairs? Also, how do I unstick him?” 

“Through that door, on the left. He should just unstick if you try to move him. Had to pry him off Tim the other morning so he could get to school on time. The kid didn’t even wake up once.” Jason sets out his weapons and gets the supplies to clean them. Dick picks Peter up into his arms. It does take a second to unstick him but he doesn’t even stir at being manhandled. 

“I know he’s from another universe,” Dick says softly. Jason stops what he’s doing to look properly at his brother. Dick’s mask is gone, resting on the table he’d been leaning on, and he’s looking down at the teenager in his arms. Jason’s reminded once again that Peter is Dick’s son. How old was the Dick of Peter’s world when he had Peter? Does Peter not exist in this universe at all or just not yet? Jason tries to imagine his brother with a baby on his hip. He could see it, Dick’s been a good older brother. He had a good father. He would know how to do it. 

“But you still feel like he’s yours?” Jason guesses. 

“A little bit,” Dick admits. “Carrying him to bed while he sleeps like this isn’t helping.” 

“Go put him down before his ability to sleep through anything fails,” Jason says, waving him off. Dick chuckles a bit and heads for the stairs. Jason sits down to clean his weapons. It is methodical, and familiar. He’d almost say it's as good as meditating to help him wind down from a long night like the one he just had. 

He had a plan, a mission when he came back to Gotham. But that’s gone now. He had his big reveal and the Joker was still alive and Bruce was still alive and Jason was still alive. His brother’s, no his brother singular, is back in his life. Barbara doesn’t hate him. But now he’s got an entire crime empire that he isn’t sure what to do with next. Crime Alley is his now. He’s taken over. But does he keep running it the way he has been? That would keep putting him at odds with Batman and the old man is not going to let him keep running around like this unchecked. He’ll keep interrupting Jason. Keep interfering. Maybe he needs to leave Gotham until he gets himself fully under control. Until he knows that the Lazarus rage isn’t going to take him over and make him hurt the people he cares about. He thought that he had to stay for Peter but Dick will take care of Peter. Dick and Tim will. 

“Jay I’m gonna touch you,” Dick says before he drapes himself over Jason’s back, arms wrapped tightly around his neck. 

“Ugh, what Dickhead?” Jason asks. 

“Your place is a pigsty,” Dick rests his chin on top of Jason’s head. 

“Three teenage boys living there, what do you expect?” 

“Oh, so that was the third bed I saw,” Dick says with a hum. 

“I said Tim’s been sleeping here,” Jason shrugs. 

“Alfred would be so disappointed in this, he raised you better than that.” 

“Yeah I don’t think how to care for your mansion really translates into how to care for your haunted Opera House,” Jason says with a huff of laughter. 

“Well it should,” Dick is definitely pouting. Jason thinks he’s an idiot. After all, Jason had been to the Titan’s tower when Dick was in charge. Some of the food there could have started walking. 

“Your Kevlar is uncomfortable,” Jason says, trying to shrug his brother off. Dick moves from his back but just moves Jason’s arms out of the way and drapes himself across his lap instead. Jason lets out a long annoyed sigh and uses Dick as an armrest as he finishes up cleaning his weapons. “Alfred would be much more proud of me for keeping my guns so clean. What he is going to be disappointed by is the fact that you haven’t returned from patrol yet and even with O’s help you know he won’t fall for your lies.”

“Nah Alfred would be here with you too if he could. But someone has to babysit Bruce,” Dick says with a yawn. “Also he’d have been mad if I left Peter here on his own.” 

“We live here Dick, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s slept here alone.” 

“I don’t like either of you sleeping here,” Dick sighs. “Can’t you stay at the manor? Or hell the Drake manor if you don’t want to be around Bruce. They have a penthouse in old Gotham, I’ve seen it. Tim goes there when he doesn’t want to be around his parents. Why don’t you guys go there?” 

“Because no matter the amount of security I put on them it won’t keep the bat out. The history of this place will though. He won’t come here,” Jason sets his weapons neatly into their places and then slumps back in his chair, feeling exhausted. 

“Jay…” Dick sits up and moves to sit on the desk instead. “I don’t think that even the history of this place is enough to keep B out for good. You’re his son. You came back from the dead. Eventually wanting to be with you again is going to override his fear of this place.” 

“Dick I really don’t think this is going to go the way you want it to.”

“Little Wing I don’t think you know the full… I don’t think you know how badly your death made things.” 

“Not enough to stop it from ever happening again. Not enough to keep him from putting more kids in that position.” 

“But it did Jay.” Dick grabs Jason’s shoulder so he can’t pull away. “He was going to go after the Joker. He was going to make him pay for what he did to you. But that fucker got himself turned into an ambassador for Iran, he had diplomatic immunity and it would have started an international crisis. The U.N. had to call Clark in. It took Superman to keep Bruce from killing the Joker.” 

“That's… I didn’t…” 

“I know Little Wing,” Dick pulls Jason forward and hugs him tight. “I know that you didn’t know. I wouldn’t have known either if Clark hadn’t told me. Bruce’s communication skills are abysmal.” Jason drops his head against his brother’s shoulder and tries to control his breathing. Had Talia known? Joker at the U.N.? How could Jason not have found that? How did he not know?

“I’m so fucking tired,” He manages to choke out. Dick’s grip on him tightens and he presses a kiss to the top of Jason’s head. 

“Let’s get you to bed Little Wing. Everything else can wait til you wake up,” Dick gets to his feet and tugs Jason up as well. Jason lets himself be guided. Lets his brain shut down for a bit while his brother tucks him in. 

Chapter Text

Peter

Despite his best attempts, Peter is not able to talk the others out of getting him back into school. Oracle has as promised created an entire identity for him in the span of one night. Peter Parker, seventeen years old (with no five-year gaps this time), cousin to Dick Grayson who is now his legal guardian. He’s been homeschooled up until now and he doesn’t really have a digital footprint because he has been traveling with a circus.

“I went with the story that Tim gave my dad the other day,” Barbara explains. Peter is sitting behind the desk with her at the library, trying to enjoy his last weekday of freedom before he gets dragged to private school with Tim. 

“That makes sense,” Peter reaches out and uses the counter to spin his chair. It’s not like they can start claiming he’s Dick’s kid after all. 

“So you’re gonna need to learn more about the family,” Barbara says. 

“What exactly do I need to know?” 

“Dick lived with his parents at Haly’s circus until he was eight. That’s when he lost his parents.” 

“That’s the same,” Peter says. “My dad was adopted at eight too.” 

“Huh. Bruce was at the circus that day. He saw what happened and when it came time to figure out what was going to happen to Dick he volunteered to take him in as his ward.” 

“What’s the difference between a ward and an adoption?” He asks. 

“It’s an outdated term now. It meant that Bruce was his guardian and responsible for Dick but not really his parent. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that the paperwork was done to legally adopt him.” 

“What about Jason?” 

“Hmm, he was technically a ward of the state for a bit. He was in foster care briefly before Bruce found him living on the streets so once Bruce decided to take him it was as a foster son. But as soon as Bruce was legally able to, he did adopt Jason,” Barbara never stops typing as she talks and Peter wonders what Ned is doing back in their world. 

“Tim?” 

“Tim is not one of Bruce’s kids. His parents the Drake’s own the mansion next door to Wayne Manor. Of course, they also have not been in the country for the past seven months at least.” 

“What? So Tim’s just on his own?” It’s no wonder that he preferred to spend most nights at the Opera House with Peter and Jason instead of in an empty mansion.

“Of course not,” Barbara says. “He’s got us. If he’d stop trying to be stubborn about it.” 

Peter adds ‘help Tim’ to his mental list of things to do right under reunite Jason with his family. They won’t be in the same grade but Tim had said he takes mostly advanced classes so maybe they’ll be in the same classes and of course, Peter going to school also means that Jason has to uphold his end and get his GED. He won’t let them bring Jason Todd back to life but he has agreed to let them set him up a more permanent alias. Which is absolutely in the right direction for getting Jason to admit he misses being alive. 

“Okay, so what else do I need to know?” 

“Well since Dick is back living at the Manor people are going to assume you’re living there too. So you’ll need to know about Brucie Wayne and Richie Wayne.”

“Is that different from Bruce and Dick?” 

“Very,” Barbara hands him a tablet with a document pulled up. “Brucie and Richie are their public personas.” Peter keeps his chair spinning as he reads through the documents. It seems to him that Bruce and Dick have fully embraced the rich airheaded socialite stigma. Partying and hooking up, tripping over their own two feet. Peter’s pretty sure he could see them being on some sort of reality TV show. 

“Do I need to act like this too?” He asks. 

“You’re still young. You and Tim don’t really have to care about how you appear to the public. Bruce’s PR team is very particular about how the children in his life are protected. Once you turn eighteen you can figure out what you want to go with.”  

“When I’m eighteen?” Peter says. He keeps his eyes focused on the tablet in his hands. 

“Yeah,” Barbara glances at him from the corner of her eye. Peter twists his chair back and forth with his foot. He hadn’t been thinking too closely about the future, somehow feeling like maybe he could get home before then. But he doesn’t really know that. Doesn’t know that he will be able to get home before his eighteenth birthday. Or to go to college. He’d had dreams and plans for his future and he’d thought that his identity being revealed would have taken all that away but now he has a chance doesn’t he? How long will he be here in Gotham? How many years in this unknown place does he have before him?

“You know in my world most of the big name superheroes don’t have secret identities,” Peter says. Barbara turns to fully face him. “There was one hero. Captain America. He was a super soldier created by the military in World War Two. Everyone knew who he was. Steve Rogers. He was frozen in ice for like 70 years and when they found him they defrosted him and he was still alive. He had a whole museum dedicated to him. And there was Tony. Tony Stark. He was Ironman. His family company was like this huge weapons manufacturer and he was a super genius. He got blown up by his own weapons though. He created the Ironman armor to get himself away from terrorists and when he got back to America he created an even better suit. Everyone was trying to figure out who it was and he was supposed to come up with a cover story for a press conference but he got up on the stage and was like ‘I am Ironman.’ It was a whole thing.” 

“He just outed himself on television?” 

“Yep. He was extra like that.” 

“That must have been hard for you.” 

“Oh, I didn’t know him at the time. I was just a little kid. But Tony Stark had always been someone I looked up to. He saved me once when I was a kid. There were these giant crazy robots at the Stark expo and I had like a kid version of the Ironman helmet and light up repulsor gloves so I thought that I could fight the robots. But Tony came swooping out of the sky and he blasted them for me. I thought it was the greatest thing in the world.” 

“Sounds a little bit too exciting for a little kid.” 

“I’m pretty sure Gotham kids learn how to put on their gas masks before they can tie their shoes so I don’t know that you guys are the ones to judge.”

“That’s fair.” 

“Are you gonna tattle on me if I go out today?” Peter asks. 

“Go out as what?” 

“Spider-man.”

“It’s daytime,” Barbara points out. 

“I know, but I like helping out with little stuff and I figured I should get started so that people get used to seeing Spider-man.”

“Fine fine, but remember tomorrow you’re going to school,” Barbara waves him off. 

“Great!” Peter jumps up from the chair and he’s out the door before she can change her mind. He’s already got his suit in his backpack so he makes his way into an alley and climbs up to the rooftop to change into his suit. 

“Good afternoon Peter,” Karen says. Peter double checks his web shooters and then takes off through Gotham looking for anything he can help with. 

“Hey Karen, how's it going?” He asks. 

“I am not currently detecting any crimes in progress. There is a request from Oracle to connect to coms, should I patch her in?” 

“Yeah, why not. I think you two will get along great. Best friend material.” 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Barbara says as she’s patched in. His prediction is of course right, Barbara is very interested in finding out everything that Karen is able to do and Peter just lets her do her thing as he travels through the city. A few minor crimes are happening but Gothamites really are built differently and most of them can handle it on their own. Still, Peter does his best to step in despite the weird suspicious looks he gets. He even gets hit by an old woman’s umbrella when he offers to carry her bags for her, at least until he manages to explain himself and then she’s very happy to let him gather up the groceries she dropped and carry them to her apartment. 

He keeps himself busy that way. Not really sticking to one area in particular but he finds people to help everywhere he goes. It’s not quite as eventful as it was fighting crime with Robin the night before but it’s still good. He feels right, being able to help with the small things. It’s how he got started in Queens. It's only right that it becomes what he’s known for here too. 

As it gets later in the day Peter swings by a bodega for a sandwich and finds a tall roof to sit on to eat it. He pulls his mask up over his nose and sits on the edge of the roof looking out at the city before him. He unwraps the sandwich and sets it down on the wrapper, picking up half for himself before glancing back over his shoulder. 

“Hungry?” He asks. “You saw me buy it right? I haven’t had time to do anything to it.” He looks forward again and focuses on taking a bite of his sandwich. The black clad figure from the night before had been following him for the past hour and a half. She steps out into the open now. Her clothes look like something out of a martial arts movie and there’s a hood pulled up over her head but the mask she’d been wearing to cover her face the night before is gone. She steps forward on silent feet and sits down beside him on the roof. 

It’s silent for a few minutes. The girl picks up the other half of the sandwich and takes a bite.

“I’m Spider-man,” He says. “I saw you last night too, right?” She nods but doesn’t speak. But Peter’s spider sense is incredibly loud in her presence. Like it recognizes her. Neither of them speaks while they eat their sandwiches and he finds that he’s okay with that. The girl only finishes half of hers before offering it back to Peter. He knows that she understands that he has to eat more than normal so he gives her a smile and takes the sandwich from her. She gives him a little wave, just like the one he’d given her that night and then she’s gone. 

Once he’s done eating Peter crumples up his wrapper and swings by a trash can to throw it away. 

“Peter, it looks like there’s a robbery taking place at a bodega near your current location,” Karen says. 

“Lead the way,” He tells her. The robbery is a quick thing to deal with and Peter leaves the would be robbers webbed up outside the front door with a hastily scribbled note for the police. 

“Hey, are you having fun without me?” Tim’s voice asks over the coms. Peter looks at the time and realizes that it’s later than he expected. 

“Only a little bit,” Peter promises as he makes his way back towards Crime Alley. 

“I’ve got what we need to finish up this arc reactor of yours so hurry up or I’ll finish it myself,” There’s a crackle as Tim signs back out and Peter goes a little bit faster because he knows that if Tim can figure it out he will absolutely finish the arc reactor on his own. Since it’s daylight still and they’re more likely to be spotted he makes sure to change a few buildings away before he drops down into the alley beside the Opera House instead of the roof holes. By the time he makes it into the main auditorium, Tim is already on the stage at their work table with safety goggles on. 

“Don’t do it!” Peter yells at him as he runs forward and tackles the other boy away from the table. Tim reacts quickly, twisting his body and trying to pin Peter down. Skill wise they’re pretty evenly matched. Peter knows that if he threw his full strength into it he could do it in a heartbeat but that takes all the fun out of it. 

“Would you two shut up?” Jason asks. Peter and Tim pause their wrestling to look up at the sleeping box. Jason has pulled the curtains open and is glaring down at them. His hair is rumpled by sleep and he’s not wearing a shirt. His multitude of scars on full display. 

“Good morning Jason!” Peter calls up to him. 

“Fuck you spider brat,” Jason pulls the curtains closed once again, disappearing from their sight. Tim and Peter keep it together for all of two seconds before they try to stifle their laughter. 

“Such a grump,” Peter says as he disentangles himself from Tim and gets to his feet. He offers a hand to the other teen and then yanks him to his feet when he grabs it. 

“So ready to finish this thing?” Tim asks. He moves back over to the table and offers Peter the extra pair of safety goggles. He takes them and slips them onto his face. Sure it’s not a proper lab, Tim had provided all of the equipment. Peter had felt a little bad about it but Tim insisted that it had just been sitting at his parent's house unused because he preferred to work in the Batcave so as long as Peter helped do the work to move it in he was welcome to use as much of it as he wanted. 

There are only a few more steps to go until the arc reactor is completed. Tim had to source a few of the rarer elements. But as long as Peter’s memory was correct then they should be able to turn the arc reactor on and then power the whole opera house off it. It would go a long way towards making it more habitable in the long term. Working with Tim is a good feeling. It reminds him of days spent in the lab with Tony. They both seem to know what the other needs before they can even ask for it. Moving around each other with ease. 

“Ready?” Tim asks. Peter nods his head and holds it steady as Tim connects the last wire. There’s nothing for a moment and then it whirs to life, glowing a calming blue. Peter sits down on the floor and takes off his safety glasses. The very familiar sound of the arc reactor buzzing in his ear. It reminds him of home, of Tony. “We’ve got power!” Tim yells. 

“Shut up!” Jason shouts back. Peter jumps back to his feet. The arc reactor works but there are things they have to do before they can power it on. If they’re going to light up the whole Opera house then they’re going to need to cover it from the outside or someone might be too tempted to come looking for ghosts. 

Tim and Peter work in tandem. Taking the remains of the big thick stage curtains they move along the front of the Opera house making sure that all the street facing windows are fully covered. 

“Smart asses!” Jason calls them after a while. Peter looks to Tim who shrugs before they head back into the auditorium. They find Dick there in his street clothes and holding a picnic basket. 

“Alfred sends his love,” Dick holds the basket up in the air. Peter shoots a web to the ceiling above the stage then grabs Tim’s arm and pulls them both up there to land beside Dick. Tim grabs the basket and Peter jumps up to their kitchen box to grab silverware and plates. He also grabs a blanket from their sleeping box as well before returning to the stage. 

“I like Alfred’s kind of love,” He says. With Dick’s help, they get the blanket spread out evenly and then the four of them sit down so Tim can start unpacking the food. 

“Anything exciting going on today?” Dick asks. 

“I went spider-manning for a bit,” Peter says. “A little old lady thought I was trying to steal her groceries and beat me with an umbrella.”

“Were you stealing her groceries?” Jason asks.

“Obviously not. I was trying to be nice and carry them back to her house for her.”

“Dude, that's not a thing in Gotham. You’re lucky she didn’t shoot you,” Tim laughs. 

“Well, maybe it should be a thing! Just because your city is cursed doesn’t mean people can’t be helpful. One of these days people are going to start recognizing Spider-man and it will be easier for me to help people.” Peter waits until the other three have gotten their own food before he starts loading up his own. 

“Oh speaking of being recognized,” Dick says. All of them tense up when he says that. Dick takes out his phone and brings up an article before holding it out to Peter. Jason and Tim lean closer so they can also see it. 

“Teen with super strength spotted at Bludhaven recovery site. New Kryptonian on the scene?” Peter reads the article title out loud. “What’s a Kryptonian?”

“Alien, like the supers. Superman, Supergirl, Superboy,” Jason says. 

“Superboy’s only half Kryptonian,” Tim adds. “Also he’s actually a clone.” 

“A clone?” 

“Yep, grown in a test tube and everything.” 

“What seriously?”

“Yep,” Tim says, popping the p at the end. 

“Tim has a crush on Superboy,” Dick says. Tim’s cheeks flush red and he throws a grape at Dick’s head.

“I do not have a crush on him! We’re just friends, teammates. That’s it.” Tim insists. 

“Oh wait! That was the super buff one at the tower right?” Peter asks. 

“Yeah, that’s him.” 

“Okay yeah no a crush on him is totally valid you shouldn’t be embarrassed by that,” Peter says. He continues to scroll through the article, noticing that there’s a few pictures from the site as well. One of him holding a large chunk of concrete above his head while Red Hood was crouched down. He was pulling a body out of the rubble but at least the camera didn’t catch that or even really most of Jason’s head. It seems that the camera person had been more focused on Peter and there wasn’t a mention of him being with Red Hood either. 

“I hate all of you.” 

“That’s what you get for being the youngest brother,” Dick says.  

“I’m not a brother,” Tim reminds him. 

“Of course you are,” Dick says, waving him away. “Even if it's not on paper right now Bruce would totally adopt you in a heartbeat.” 

“I’ve got parents, thank you very much,” Tim says. Jason scoffs at that but he doesn’t say anything out loud. 

“Wait, why do they think I’m a Kryptonian?” Peter asks. “You guys have different types of metas right?” 

“It’s the hoodie,” Jason says, reaching over to zoom in on the picture. “That’s Superman’s crest.” 

“Oh, so I basically advertised that I was an alien?” 

“Exactly,” Dick says. “How’s Kon taking it?” Tim shrugs and pulls out his phone, opening up a secure messaging app. 

“He hasn’t said anything yet. I think he’s in Kansas right now though.” 

“Let us know if he freaks out,” Dick says before turning his focus back to his food. Peter sets Dick’s phone down beside him, still feeling a little bad about having broken Tim’s but true to his word Tim had a brand new one the next day. 

“I’d be more worried about Superman’s reaction. Bet he’s definitely going to ask to come to Gotham to look for you,” Tim wipes his mouth with his napkin then passes what’s left of the food he took onto Peter’s plate. Peter nods in thanks. 

“Should I be worried about that?” he asks.

“I doubt B will let him,” Jason says. 

“I don’t know they’ve gotten pretty close over the years, though B is probably looking for you himself. If he lets Superman in then I’ll head him off, let him know that you’re meta but not alien,” Dick says. 

“Without letting B know that you know where to find Peter,” Jason reminds him as he also passes his leftovers to Peter. 

“Do you have an enhanced metabolism?” Dick asks. 

“Mhmm yeah, my powers burn a lot,” Peter says. 

“He’s about up there with the speedsters,” Tim adds. “10,000 a day right?”

“Yeah on a normal day. More if I get injured, my healing factor takes a lot.”

“How fast do you heal?” 

“Mmm, it depends on the injury. Maybe like eight hours for a bullet wound to fully heal? If I get a bullet stuck in me though I’ve got to get it out quick because the healing does start right away and it’s a pain to have to get the bullet when I’m already healing around it. I don’t need to sleep as much since the bite but when I’m injured I tend to just sleep through it, allow my body to use more energy for the process you know?” 

“I really hate that you know how long it takes for a bullet wound to heal,” Dick admits. 

“Do you not?” Peter asks. 

“There’s a lot of variables like location and type of bullet,” Tim says.

“It takes at least six months to heal from a crowbar bomb combo,” Jason adds unhelpfully. Devastation flashes across Dick’s face at his words but he manages to hide it away quickly behind his usual happy face, not quick enough for Peter to miss it though. 

“You can’t just say shit like that!” Tim scolds. 

“Oh come on it’s old news, Peter gets it. Don’t you?” Jason looks at Peter for backup. 

“I mean kinda? Most of us who got blipped in my world use humor to cope with it. There’s definitely memes.” 

“Blipped?” Dick asks, he offers his leftovers to Peter who considers it for a moment before deciding to take them.

“That’s what people call it,” Peter explains. “They also call it stuff like the devastation in the news but that's too grim. Anyway, there was this alien called Thanos. He gathered things called the infinity stones which were basically responsible for creating the entire universe or something. We had a few of them on my earth for a while. So he came to get them. We tried to stop him, me and the Avengers. But I failed to get the we failed to get the stones and the gauntlet from him. He had this idea that the universe was overpopulated and that the only way to do it was to even out the numbers. With the stones, he was able to kill fifty percent of all living things.” 

“And you were one of them,” Dick says softly, with something like horror in his voice. 

“Yeah it sucked,” Peter says, going for nonchalant and probably failing horribly. “Between my spider sense and my healing factor, it took… It took longer for me.” Sometimes Peter still wakes with the taste of dust in his mouth and he can’t settle down until he’s made sure all his limbs are accounted for. 

“Oh kid,” Dick says as he reaches out and wraps his arm around Peter’s shoulder. Peter doesn’t fight it as he’s tucked into his sort of father’s side. He meets Jason’s gaze and watches closely as the green in his eyes seems to almost flicker. 

“It took five years for Tony and the others to figure out how to bring us back,” Peter admits. Jason takes a deep inhale in and then lets it out slowly, his eyes fading back to a cloudy blue with no green in sight. 

“Wimp, I managed to claw myself back out after six months,” Jason teases gently. Peter sticks out his tongue. 

“You were just impatient,” Peter throws back at him. Jason opens his mouth to retaliate but Dick cuts him off with a distressed sound and pulls Jason over with his free arm.

“Okay, enough of that!” He says loudly. Jason attempts to free himself from his brother’s hold but Dick just holds on tighter, releasing his hold on Peter to get a better grip on Jason. Soon the two brothers are rolling on the floor in a full on wrestling match and Peter and Tim have to jump out of the way to avoid flailing limbs. 

“Ah I love family bonding time,” Tim says, his voice laced heavily with sarcasm. Peter just grins back at him as Jason and Dick manage to roll off the stage and into the villain's lair. The two teens can’t help but laugh at the curses that follow. 

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter wakes on his first morning of school to the feeling of a booted foot nudging his ribs. He opens his eyes just a crack to shoot a glare at the crime lord standing above him. Jason has clearly just returned from wherever it is he goes off to at night. He is still in his Red Hood, smelling of blood and gunpowder and a bit of smoke as well this time. Peter grumbles at him and tries to roll over to turn his back to him. 

“Up and at 'em,” Jason says, yanking the sleeping bag open. 

“Come on,” Peter whines, reaching out blindly to try and pull it back. 

“You’re not going to be late for your first day of school,” Jason scolds as he moves back to his side of the box and starts to remove his suit. Peter grumbles and debates the pros and cons of climbing up into the rafters to try and get some more sleep but he’s pretty sure Jason could still get to him with his grappling gun and he’s not looking forward to a more physical battle this early in the morning. 

“Can’t I just test out?” Peter asks, forcing himself up into a sitting position as he tries to rub the sleep from his eyes. 

“No can do, Timbo would have done it years ago if that was an option. Socialization is good for you. Freaky geniuses need to learn how to be normal kids before they can go off and take over the world.”

“Your face is a freaky genius,” Peter snaps at him. 

“That’s really all you got?” Jason asks with a laugh. “Come on, shower, uniform, food. Be quick or we’ll be late to meet up with Dick.” 

“I’m nearly an adult!” Peter argues as he gets up anyway. His new school uniform hangs from one of the wall lights, looking all posh and neatly pressed thanks to Alfred. He’d wanted to use what was left of his own money to get a used uniform but Dick had insisted on buying him a new one. Surprisingly Jason had agreed, saying that it was better for Peter to enter the lion's den looking prepared. Peter was really not looking forward to Gotham Academy. He’d been a public school kid his whole life and then he’d gotten the scholarship to midtown and even there most of the kids had gotten in with smarts instead of money. Peter imagines there will be a lot more Flashs at an actual private school. He isn’t really looking forward to it but a promise is a promise so he drags himself out of his sleeping bag and stumbles backstage to the showers with his uniform. 

By the time he returns to the boxes, with his uniform mostly on except for the tie hanging loose around his neck, Jason has changed into a tattered pair of jeans and a t-shirt and is crouched in front of the coffee table they’ve been using in their dining box. The electric kettle on the table sounds like it’s just about ready. 

“Making coffee?” Peter asks as he grabs the new backpack Tim had gifted him and double checks to make sure all his school supplies are still in it. 

“Tea,” Jason answers. “You don’t like coffee and I figure some tea will help calm your nerves.” 

“Aw thanks, Mom,” Peter teases. He swings his backpack onto his shoulders and puts his headphones on his head, then jumps between the two boxes intent on rooting around for some Poptarts he’s pretty sure should be left over. 

“You didn’t do your tie,” Jason reminds him.

“I don’t know how,” He admits. “Can you do it for me?”

“Why would I know how to do up a tie?”

“Because you were raised by a billionaire?”

“With a butler,” Jason pours the hot water into a travel thermos and adds the tea bag. “Tim will have to do it for you.” 

“I should have listened to Tony when he tried to teach me,” Peter sighs as he gives the tie a tug. He and May had managed to tie one for his homecoming dance but it had been terribly uneven and it’s not like it had lasted long when he’d had to change into his homemade suit and go running after Vulture. Tony had tried to teach him when they got closer after that, he’d said it was for emergency press conferences but Peter had always turned him down. He hadn’t put on a tie again until the funeral when Clint had stopped him on the way to the cabin's backyard and fixed it for him. 

“It’ll be fine, you can learn,” Jason hands Peter the thermos then grabs the pop tarts from the toaster Peter had repaired a few days before. He wraps them in a paper towel and hands that to Peter as well before grabbing one of his leather jackets and pulling it on. He picks up another one and hands that to Peter as well. “Let’s go.”

“How many leather jackets do you have?” Peter asks as he pulls it on. Even with the extra layers of his vest and blazer he’s still practically swimming in the jacket. 

“Enough,” Jason says before jumping over the balcony and down to the first floor. Peter takes a bite of Poptart and then follows him. Jason’s bike is hidden in the alley behind the Opera house and Peter finishes off his food while waiting for him to dismantle the ridiculous amount of booby traps and security on it. He’s licking the filling off of his fingers by the time Jason is done. 

“Even for Gotham this feels excessive,” Peter points out. 

“I literally stole the wheels off the batmobile as a child. You can’t trust any of the brats running around Crime Alley,” Jason picks up the two helmets and hands one to Peter before pulling his own on. Peter adjusts his nanobots to flatten so he can fit the helmet on over them then gets on the bike behind Jason wrapping his arms around the older teen's waist. 

“This town is wack,” Peter says, not for the first time. Jason flips him off over his shoulder and then takes off. Peter clings onto him tighter at the start as always as Jason weaves the bike in and out through the early morning traffic of Gotham’s streets. It’s not until they make it closer to the Upper East Side that Peter relaxes a bit. He likes the feeling of being on the bike. It gives him almost the same thrill as swinging through the streets and it feels a bit like he’s getting away with something since Aunt May and Uncle Ben had always strongly discouraged him from ever being on one since he was a small kid launching his Captain America motorcycle toy off the edge of the table to escape imaginary explosions. He can imagine the scolding May would give him now if she found out. 

As they near the school a line of nearly identical black towncars is backed up into the road from the student drop off. Peter would laugh at how ridiculous the scene was as driver after driver gets out to open the doors for the preppy teens if he wasn’t so nervous about having to try and blend in with them all day. Arriving on the back of Jason’s bike probably wouldn’t help but Peter had turned down Tim’s suggestion of coming in with him and his driver. Jason pulls the bike into the parking lot and parks it in an open spot marked for visitors near the office. Peter keeps his hands on his shoulders and wonders if he’d be able to convince him to turn back. 

“It’s going to be fine Peter,” Jason says, twisting around a bit to try and look at him. 

“Is it?” He asks. “Because I’m not going to fit in here at all. I’m not fancy like this. I thought my old school was too much and they didn’t even have uniforms.” 

“Pete, you’re going to do great,” Jason assures him. “You’ll have Tim on your side and the kids probably not the most popular but as far as I know there aren’t any bullies threatening to dunk his head in toilets and if anyone does try that just let me know and I’ll put them in their place okay?” Peter can’t help but snort at the image in his head of the Red Hood storming into a prep school and threatening bullies. It works though, he gets off the bike and adjusts the straps of his backpack then reaches up to take off his helmet. 

“Peter!” Tim’s voice calls out in a voice that sounds like a warning. Peter turns quickly, his eyes finding Tim where he’s leaving the doors that mark the office. Before he can say anything though another figure exits behind Tim. Bruce Wayne. Peter sees Jason tense up where he still sits on his bike, hands clenched tightly around the handles. Cursing his rotten luck Peter places a hand on Jason’s shoulder, prepared to hold him back if he needs to. 

“Tim, hi… I uh… wasn’t expecting to see you yet,” Peter says. Tim hurries forward and comes to a stop between Jason and Bruce who is watching all three of them closely. 

“You must be one of Timothy’s friends,” Bruce says with a cordial smile. Peter feels Jason start to move and tightens his grip on his shoulder. 

“Yes,” Peter answers briskly. He needs Jason to leave before he snaps but he isn’t sure that it’ll be easy with Bruce there. Jason will want to keep Peter away from him. Maybe it is best that they leave. He’s thankful that both of them still have their helmets on. He doesn’t think anyone has informed Bruce of Dick’s new ‘cousin’. 

“My parents are going to be out of the country,” Tim explains. “Apparently they called Mr Wayne this morning and asked him to care for me since my normal caretaker had to go out of town. I meant to call you… but my phone stopped working.” Peter glances at Jason and he’s pretty sure he can see a bit of green through Jason’s tinted visor. This is really not good. 

“Karen, find out where Dick is,” Peter whispers. “Oh, that’s sudden.” 

“Yeah,” Tim says with a sour side glance at Bruce. Bruce whose gaze has gone to Jason on his bike.

“Is this your guardian?” Bruce asks, sounding perfectly cordial. 

“He’s just dropping me off,” Peter says. 

“Timmy! Bruce!” Dick’s voice interrupts. He runs up to them from where he’d left his car practically in the lane still. He throws an arm around Peter’s shoulder and pulls him into his side, patting the top of his helmet and shifting them both so they’re blocking Bruce’s line of sight to Jason. “Imagine seeing you here.” Dick’s voice is tense and Peter can’t see him because of the helmet blocking his vision but he’s pretty sure there’s a glare on Dick’s face. 

“Dick, I wasn’t expecting to see you,” Bruce says, there’s a twinge of annoyance on his face. Barely noticeable for anyone with normal senses. 

“No? Did I not tell you? Huh must have slipped my mind,” Dick lies. 

“You know this boy?” Bruce asks. 

“Yes, from the circus. Haly called me. Said that Pete here was looking to settle down somewhere. I offered to show him around Gotham, you know, keep an eye on him.”  Dick starts going on about the circus and how well it’s doing and stuff that is pretty clearly a distraction. Peter turns his head to look at Jason and shoos him with one hand. Some of the tension in Jason’s body is gone now that Dick is present but it hasn’t completely disappeared. 

“Go home, I’ll be fine. See you after school,” Peter says. 

“Call me if there’s trouble,” Jason says, his voice a whisper that Peter’s enhanced senses barely pick up. He nods and then pulls Dick slightly aside so that Jason can take off on the bike. He goes quickly thankfully and Peter relaxes a bit. The school parking lot is definitely not the right place for Jason and Bruce to have another big confrontation. Jason’s neck has barely healed from the last one after all. 

“Well let’s get inside,” Dick says, pulling Peter away from Bruce. “Wouldn’t want to be late on the first day. Timmy you coming? You did promise to show Peter around.”

“Right yeah I did,” Tim says. “Bye, Bruce.” He hurries to catch up with Dick and Peter. 

“What the fuck?” Dick hisses at the younger teen. 

“He’s onto us,” Tim hisses back. “He made me stay at the manor after patrol last night and insisted on coming to the school with me this morning to tell them that he was going to be my ‘temporary guardian’ or some shit. He’s got to have some sort of motive.” 

“I mean you do kind of need a guardian,” Dick admits, “But the timing is suspicious.” 

“I’ve literally been raising myself since I was eight, this isn’t new,” Tim scoffs. 

“That’s not a brag,” Dick reminds him. He pulls open the office door and ushers them both inside before going up to the counter and immediately starting to charm the secretary sitting there. Peter takes his helmet off finally and shakes out his hair. His nanobots adjust back to look like normal headphones and he looks around to take in the office. It looks surprisingly like a normal school office. Sure the floors are probably marble and the wood of the desk looks expensive but it’s still got the same vibes as the office at Midtown. 

“We’ll have to be more careful,” Peter says quietly to Tim. 

“I don’t know if you’ll be able to avoid him forever,” Tim admits. “Once he’s got an idea in his head he’s nearly impossible to steer in another direction and he’s been looking for both the Spider-man from Titan’s tower and the Meta teen from Bludhaven. Barbara has hidden as much as she can but it’s going to look suspicious.” Peter fidgets with the helmet in his hands and wonders how realistic it is for him to attempt to keep staying away from Batman. He knows that Jason is just trying to protect him but the longer he avoids the Bat the more suspicious the man is going to become. There must be some sort of middle ground they can find. A way for Peter and Spider-man to continue existing in Gotham without being run out by Batman, and also avoid another violent confrontation between father and son. 

“Peter,” Dick says motioning him over to the desk. Peter hurries over and tucks himself under Dick’s arm. Dick gives him a smile and squeezes his shoulders before turning back to the secretary. “So this is my cousin, Peter, you guys got all his paperwork correct? And my accountant said the tuition payment was all sorted.” 

“Yes, that's correct, the headmaster informed me this morning. We have a placement test scheduled for him and then we’ll be able to set up his class schedule once we’ve gotten his results.”

“He has to do a placement test?” Dick asks with a frown. “You did receive his transcripts didn’t you?”

“We did,” She says hesitantly. “But as I’m sure you’re aware Mr. Wayne homeschooling can be a bit of an unreliable source of grades.” 

“But his standardized test scores aren’t,” Dick rests his free arm on the counter, his fingers tapping in agitation. Tim leans on the counter on his other side with an unimpressed look on his face. 

“No, but they do come from several different states and of course, the states all have different requirements.” 

“It’s okay Dick really,” Peter says looking up at the older man. “I don’t mind taking the tests.” 

“It’s discrimination,” Tim says icily and Peter suddenly remembers that Tim was born into this world of money and that while Dick might not have been born to it he had been raised by it. “Were you raised by the Wayne’s or any other family and homeschooled they would have no problem trusting your scores. Perhaps you should go get Mr. Wayne out of the car. I know he said his phone meeting was important but I’m sure he’d want to be informed of this issue.” The secretary looks super nervous as she glances around herself for backup but the doors marked for the other office staff are all closed. Peter feels kinda bad for her. He turns to face both brothers and raises his hands in what he hopes is a placating gesture. 

“Dick, Tim, really it’s okay. I want to take the tests. It will be a good way for me also to judge what the school's standards are. I promise,” Peter presses his helmet into Dick’s hands and pastes a smile onto his face. If he has to take a placement test first then he doubts he’ll be given a locker and he doesn’t want to have to lug it around with him all day. Tim looks like he’s still ready to fight but the steely look in Dick’s eyes softens. 

“If you’re sure,” Dick sighs. Peter nods his head vigorously. 

“I’ll text you as soon as I’m done with the tests and let you know how it goes,” Peter promises. Dick gives him a grateful nod.

“As soon as you’re done, not a moment after. I’ll pick you and Timmy up after school and you can tell me how the day went,” His eyes slide to the secretary again and Peter can definitely hear the threat in his voice. If Peter gives a bad report about his first day he has no doubt that Dick will be back here to raise hell. 

“I doubt it will take you long to complete the test,” Tim says as he pushes Dick out of the way and takes Peter’s tie into his hands. “We’ll have lunch together.” he quickly ties it up and fixes Peter’s collar over it before straightening it out a bit. 

“Let’s not have any more trouble today,” Dick says to the secretary. “I assume you all received his letter of reasonable accommodation for his headphones.

“Yes, yes we do have that. Once he’s completed the placement tests then we can set up a meeting with the counselor to discuss creating an IEP,” She stutters. 

“But he will be able to wear his headphones until then, correct?” 

“Um… yes, yes that should be fine. He will need to turn his phone over during the exam though…” Peter shrugs his shoulders and hands his phone over to Tim. The other teen quickly pockets it. Peter’s phone is a bit too technologically advanced for this world. He should probably get at least a burner phone that fits in better but he really doesn’t want to give up this tie to his own world, to Mr Stark. 

“No phone now,” Peter says with his best polite smile. 

“Perfect,” Dick pulls both Peter and Tim into a tight hug and presses kisses to their foreheads. “You boys behave today. Remember I’m picking you up so no running off after school is over.” 

“Yeah whatever,” Tim grumbles as he attempts to free himself from Dick’s hold while also wiping his forehead. Dick lets them both go, cups Peter’s cheek gently for just a moment, and then heads out the door with a wave. Peter rubs his cheek and snickers at Tim as he pulls out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead with. “He is the worst.” Tim snaps. 

“The bell will be ringing soon, Mr Drake you should be off to class before you’re late. Mr Parker, if you’ll come with me please I’ll take you to the exam room.”

“Good luck Peter,” Tim says, holding up a fist. Peter knocks his own against it with a nervous grin and then he follows the secretary out of the office and down to a classroom. This is fine, school is something he can handle. He knows how to do school, sure it's a school for rich kids but still. He’ll figure it out. 

Chapter Text

Jason

Time blurs for Jason, drowning in a sea of green hatred that fills his lungs and pulls him down down down, deep below the surface as he dies again and again with no hope of surfacing. No hope of permanent death. He is nothing but rage. Uncontrollable rage that burns like a wildfire in his veins. Somewhere he knows, hopes, desperately that the rage is not him. That it will not consume him. But he hears the maniacal laughter, and he sees those burning red numbers counting down down. He knows that no one is coming for him. Bruce is not coming for him. Because Jason wasn’t good enough. Jason was too angry, too violent. Bruce fired him. He fired him and now Jason was alone and he was going to die because no one could love him the way he wanted to be loved. Willis had beat him and then died. Catherine had chosen drugs over him, Bruce had fired him, had left him, Sheila didn’t care, she'd never cared and She’d sold him to the Joker. 

Jason was broken, and unlovable. It was clear that he’d meant nothing, Bruce had replaced him with Tim. Tim with his concerning caffeine consumption and his long rambling talks about science. Tim, who laughed at his jokes and preferred sleeping in the abandoned Opera house with Jason and Peter over his empty mansion. 

“That’s it, Jay,” A familiar voice whispers in his ear. “That’s it, just take deep breaths.” Jason gasps for air as he seems to sink back into his body. He doesn’t know where he is. He doesn’t know how long it’s been. He’s wearing his helmet again. When did he put his helmet back on? He was dropping Peter off at school. Did Peter make it to school? Jason can’t remember. He’s in a building somewhere, he doesn’t recognize it but it's hard to see much. He’s on the ground, his arms twisted behind his back as someone pins him down. Jason struggles against the hold.

“Let go!” He snaps at his captor. 

“It’s me, Jay,” Dick’s voice says. Jason takes a deep breath and forces his body to relax. “I’m going to let you go now.” Jason nods his head then his arms are free and Dick is moving off him to kneel on the concrete. Jason lets out a groan as he rolls onto his back and looks around the room trying to piece together what’s happened. Dick is in his Nightwing suit, with only one Escrima stick on his back. The twitching in Jason’s muscles tells him that he’s pretty sure the other one had been used on him. 

“Nightwing?” Jason can’t remember anything. 

“Don’t sit up yet, just take your time okay?” 

“B?” 

“It’s daytime still. I offered to suit up so he didn’t have to, though I think word has gotten out that it was Red Hood by now so I don’t think the sunlight will keep him for long.”

“He’ll be worried that I’m going to kill you,” Jason ignores his brother's suggestion and pushes himself up into a sitting position anyway. His head swims and he has to blink away the black spots in his vision. “He’ll attack first if he sees me with you.” 

“I’m not going to let him Jay,” Dick pulls Jason closer and while he wants to fight it he doesn’t have the energy or the willpower. He drops his head onto Dick’s shoulder and tries to remember.

“I don’t remember,” He admits. “The pit…”

“I know,” Dick assures him. “You weren’t yourself. I’m sorry that I hurt you but I had to incapacitate you before things got any worse.”

“I need details dickhead,” Jason snaps at him. Dick just wraps him up in a tight hug and rests his chin on the top of his helmeted head. 

“You dropped Peter off at school, Bruce ambushed you guys. Peter got you to leave but I think you were already a little lost to the Pit. I would have come after you quicker but I needed to get Peter into the school and away from Bruce. By the time I left the school you had made it back to Crime Alley and were causing some chaos at one of Black Mask’s warehouses.” 

“Any innocents?” Jason asks. He feels Dick’s chest move with a deep sigh. 

“Not that I can tell. Looks like you interrupted some sort of weapons deal. There are… fatalities,” Dick makes Jason sit up and removes his jacket in order to look for injuries. Jason hates being manhandled like this but the pit rage and the fight has left him with a bone deep exhaustion. He considers just falling asleep right in this spot but knows it’s a bad idea. 

“Did I hurt you?” He asks. Dick snorts as he opens his belt and removes his med kit to start cleaning up a gash on Jason’s leg.

“You’re good, Little Wing, you’ve definitely gotten stronger than you were at fifteen but I’ve been training to. Not to mention you were holding back.” Dick cleans Jason’s wounds methodically. They both tense as the sound of a grappling line zips through the air and heavy boots hit the ground a few feet from them.

“Nightwing,” Batman’s voice growls out. Dick meets Jason’s eyes through their lenses.

“Stay with me,” He orders his younger brother. Jason focuses on his breathing and pushing down the green that threatens to rise up. He is not alone. Dick came for him. Dick gives him a gentle smile and then stands to his full height and faces Batman, putting himself between the two men as he slips his remaining escrima stick off his back. He’s ready to fight. He’s willing to fight Batman to protect Jason.

“Nightwing report,” Batman orders.

“The situation is under control,” Dick says. Jason can feel Bruce’s eyes on him. He squeezes his own eyes shut and focuses on Dick’s voice, on the warmth that radiates off him. He thinks about what he’s going to make Tim and Peter for dinner. 

“Red Hood is-” Batman starts.

“I know who Red Hood is,” Dick cuts him off. “The situation is under control. You can leave.” 

“This isn’t a conversation to have here,” Batman says. “Let’s return to the cave.”

“No, the time to talk about this is long past,” Dick snaps at him. “You waited months to tell me he was dead. Months that I had no idea. How long has it been now? When did you know?” 

“I had… suspicions. But I did not know for sure until the night of the explosion that took out Bludhaven.” 

“You should have told me the second you suspected,” Dick turns away from their father and holds his free hand out to Jason. “Come on Little Wing. Let’s get you home.” Jason glances between his brother and Bruce for a moment before accepting Dick’s hand and allowing him to pull him to his feet. He’s a little unsteady so Dick holds his arms to steady him. A few feet away Bruce watches them tensely, his hand twitches, probably itching to reach for a batarang. Jason meets the Bat’s gaze, tilting his head to the side to show off the scar he’ll have to carry with him now. 

“Go on pops,” He spits at him. “How about a matching one on the other side?” 

“Little Wing don’t antagonize him,” Dick scolds him gently. Jason crosses his arms and looks away but he doesn’t bother to argue with his brother. 

“Jaylad,” Bruce says, and even through his modulator his voice sounds wrecked. Jason turns away from him and stalks for the exit. 

“Cops are coming. You can clean this up,” He shoots his grappling and takes off over the rooftops. 

“Do better B,” He hears Dick say as he’s pulled away.  

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter sits cross-legged on a bench in the hallway outside the unused classroom where he’d taken his test. His backpack sits on the floor in front of him and his arms are wrapped around the leather jacket that he’d borrowed from Jason that morning. The test had been fine. While sitting still through tests was always a struggle, the problems themselves were easy to solve. Now he just had to wait for it to be graded and find out what classes he would be allowed to take. 

“Karen?” he asks quietly so as not to disturb any of the classrooms around. 

“Yes, Peter?” She answers. 

“Can you let Dick know that I’ve finished my test and I’m waiting on the results?” 

“Yes, I will relay your message. Is there anything else I can help you with?” 

“Do you know where Jason is? I’m kinda worried about him after the run in with Wayne,” Peter fidgets with the zipper on the borrowed jacket. 

“It appears that the Red Hood and Nightwing are both approaching the Opera house,” Karen says. Peter sighs in relief and slumps a bit down on the bench. He should have known that Dick wouldn’t leave his brother alone after that. However if Karen is referring to them by their other names that means she’s tracking their comms and not their phones so they must have changed after leaving the school. It’s a bit worrisome, if Jason had gotten caught in the pit rage or whatever he called it then he could be super violent. Peter hopes that Dick caught him before he went too far. 

“Mr Parker,” Peter sits up straight and drops his feet to the floor at the sound of his name. He looks at the teacher who’d been assigned to give him the test, Mrs Jacobs he thinks she said her name was. 

“Yes ma’am,” He stands up quickly and tightens his grip on the jacket. She seems a bit startled by him and he has the feeling that doesn’t bode well for the attitudes of his classmates. 

“May I see your headphones please?” She asks with a hand held out. Peter takes them off and holds them out, flinching a bit as he’s immediately assaulted by the sounds of multiple classes taking place and the buzzing of the lights, the multitude of heartbeats spread throughout the building. He’s been wearing the things practically since he arrived in Gotham save for when he’s out as Spider-man. He might be becoming too reliant on them to help him filter out the background noise instead of doing it himself. 

“Is something wrong?” He asks nervously. Mrs Jacobs examines the headphones closely, Peter isn’t worried about that. Nanobots like his are not a thing in this world and Karen won’t speak when the headphones aren’t in his possession or the possession of someone he trusts. 

“These aren’t  connected to a phone are they?” She asks. 

“No Ma’am. They’re just noise canceling. I gave my phone to Tim Drake in the office,” He takes the headphones back from her and slips them onto his head once again.

“Why are you carrying that jacket?” She asks, holding out a hand. She suspects him of cheating. Peter must have done well on his tests then. He reluctantly hands over Jason’s leather jacket then picks his backpack up off the ground and puts it on. 

“My um… Uncle drove me to school this morning on his bike," he explains. “I gave the helmet to D-Richard but I forgot I was also wearing the jacket.” 

“You're Richard Wayne’s cousin, aren't you?” There's a tinge of suspicion in her voice as she checks the sleeves and the pockets of the jacket.

“Richard Grayson-Wayne,” He corrects her. He’s pretty sure that distinction is important. “He’s my cousin on my mom’s side.” 

“And this uncle that brought you in?” Finding nothing she offers the jacket back to him.

“My dad’s brother,” Peter explains, wrapping his arms around the leather once again. 

“Isn’t it odd that you’ve been left with a cousin instead of an uncle?” She asks. Peter’s pretty sure all of the staff are going to be gossiping about him. But admittedly he’d probably be pretty curious too. From what he can tell the Wayne’s are pretty big in this city and now he’s fresh meat with a connection to them.

“Not really,” He shrugs. “My uncle was a surprise baby. He’s only nineteen so not exactly the most responsible person for me to live with. Besides, I grew up in the circus so Richard and I have more in common.” Peter’s going to have to look more into what circuses are actually like if this is the story they’re going with. Richard Parker might have been a Flying Grayson as a child but he grew up to become a scientist. There was never much talk about the circus beyond some bedtime stories that Peter can remember from the few years he had with his dad and Ben and May had only taken him once when he was six. They hadn’t had the money for it but it was all Peter had wanted for his birthday that year. To see people fly the way his dad had whispered to him at night.

“Huh, I see. Well, your tests have been scored. The counselor is ready to meet with you now to go over your class scheduling and your IEP.” Mrs Jacobs heads back towards the office and Peter follows behind her. 

“Isn’t Richard supposed to be here for the IEP stuff?” Peter’s not actually too concerned. It’s March in this universe so there’s still six months til his eighteenth birthday here but it was near the end of the school year in his own world, so really he’s only two months away at this point. Dick helping Jason is more important at this point. 

“He’s already turned in the relevant paperwork for you so it’s just a brief review,” She says. Internally Peter groans. He hates having to stand up for himself but it's pretty obvious that the school is trying to push the boundaries and figure out where he fits in the Wayne family. Maybe the headmaster has some beef with them or something. 

“Richard is my legal guardian,” Peter reminds her. “But maybe Mr Wayne is free. He probably won’t be excited about having to come back to the school for the second time but I’m sure he’d be willing.” Her face turns white and she definitely looks nervous so Peter’s pretty sure it worked. He’s only had the brief run in with Bruce Wayne that morning and one short run in with Batman at the tower. He doesn’t know if He’s someone to really be afraid of if he’s got the whole Brucie Wayne thing going on to the public but it seems to be working. Maybe they remember him from Dick and Jason’s school days. Maybe he actually stood up for his kids in this school setting. 

“Well, perhaps we’ll just get your classes sorted and then we can schedule the IEP meeting with Mr Grayson-Wayne after school ends.”

“Oh that sounds good,” Peter nods his head. Mrs Jacobs knocks on an office door and then opens it when a man’s voice calls them in. It looks like a pretty typical guidance counselor's office. Everything is just slightly nicer quality than he’s used to. Peter takes a seat across from the counselor and lets his eyes scan around the room while his test scores are looked over. 

“You’re very smart Peter,” The guidance counselor says after a few minutes. Peter pulls his eyes away from the college brochures on the top of the bookshelf to look at the man. Mr Deacon, the nameplate on his desk says.

“That’s what they tell me,” Peter says. 

“What do you think?” The counselor asks. Peter considers his answer. 

“I think that I struggle to focus in an academic setting and I’m much more of a hands-on learning type. I get bored if I’m not challenged.” 

“You’re honest at least,” Mr Deacon says with amusement. Peter gives him his best smile. 

“I’m not very good at lying,” He says with a shrug. 

“That’s good to know. Now let’s get you sorted into your classes then shall we?” The counselor pulls out a school booklet with a list of the classes. Peter leans forward to take a look at them. It doesn’t take them too long to sort out his class schedule. Tim had given him a list of his own classes and Peter is able to get himself put into those as well. It’s the highest level that this school offers really. Peter’s pretty sure that he and Tim would both benefit more from college level courses, but Dick had been insistent that Peter attend high school with people his own age and he’s pretty sure that Tim probably has to follow the same rule. 

The bell is just ringing for lunch by the time Peter’s class schedule is all taken care of. He uses his new map of the school to find his way to the cafeteria and ignores the weird looks that he’s getting from the other students. 

“Peter,” Tim appears at his side and Peter has to fight the urge to jump. He hadn’t heard Tim coming at all. Maybe the headphones were becoming a bit too much of a hindrance. 

“Hey,” Peter says. He can feel the eyes of the other students on him, and hear their whispering. He kind of wants to disappear. 

“Let’s get our food,” Tim grabs one of the straps of Peter’s backpack and pulls him into one of the various lunch lines. “You like Italian, yes?” 

“Yes?” Peter realizes now that he’d been so overwhelmed by the amount of students in the room that he hadn’t noticed how different it was compared to what he was used to. Instead of one single lunch line and maybe a snack line, this school had at least seven different lunch options. It looked more like a high end mall food court than a school one. The line that Tim had dragged him to had an open kitchen with chefs in actual chefs' coats cooking different Italian dishes. “What the hell.” He whispers. 

“What do you expect the children of Gotham’s elite to eat like peasants?” Tim says with a slight snicker. 

“I mean I’d probably be less surprised to see a bunch of waiters in three piece suits serving them on silver platters,” Peter says with a shrug. 

“Oh they used to, but they wanted to modernize or whatever. I can only imagine the uproar when the change was made,” Tim shoves his hands into the pockets of his blazer and lets out a wide yawn. He hadn’t slept at the Opera house last night so Peter’s pretty sure he hadn’t gone to bed. Even at the Opera house it sometimes takes Peter and Jason’s combined effort to get Tim into his sleeping bag at a reasonable hour. Peter’s even taken to webbing him in place sometimes. 

“Did you sleep?” Peter asks him, already immune to the withering look Tim shoots him in response. 

“Our case ran late, I didn’t want to wake you or Jason up coming in late so I went home.” 

“Jason didn’t come home last night either, you know me I’d sleep through anything.” 

“Why didn’t Jason come home?” 

“Not sure,” Peter admits. “I know I should but I don't really ask him what it is he does when he goes out. I’m not sure I’d like the answer and I don’t want to fight with him.” 

“That’s healthy,” Tim scoffs before stepping up to the counter and ordering for both himself and Peter. 

“Should we talk about your parent’s extended work trip?” Peter asks. 

“Should we talk about your living arrangements?” 

“Our living arrangements I think you mean,” Peter takes the two trays when they’re set on the counter and moves out of the way of the line. Tim heads for a table on the far side of the room so Peter follows him. 

“Yeah yeah whatever,” Tim waves him off and drops down onto one of the surprisingly comfortable looking chairs. Peter sits across from him and slides one of the trays over.

“You stay over so often that it’s literally next to impossible to tell our clothes apart if I don’t check the labels.” 

“That’s because that place is a pigsty. Alfred would have all our heads if he saw it,” Tim opens his silverware and somehow Peter isn’t surprised to see that it’s actual metal silverware and not cheap plastic forks. He finds his own on the tray and digs into his food. It is of course amazing. 

“It’s not like we have a washer and dryer. I’ll get to the laundromat eventually,” Peter shrugs. He is going to need to wash his uniforms pretty regularly since he only let Dick buy him two. 

“Why don’t we just get a washer and dryer?” Tim asks. 

“I don’t have money for that,” Peter says as he waves him off. 

“Do… Why would you pay for it? I’m literally a billionaire and Jason’s got all that fun drug lord money. Hell, even Dick’s got money coming out of his ears without touching his Wayne trust fund. Actually, there is so much money. Why are we living there instead of just getting an actual apartment?” 

“It’s safe. Jason feels like certain people won’t come there to look for him.” 

“That’s so dumb, it’s not like B is going to let that stop him if he really wants to get to Jason.”

“I mean we haven’t seen him so far, except one time in the sewer. But I assume he’s been trying to hunt Red Hood and we’re not the stealthiest bunch when we’re coming and going during the day.” 

“Huh,” Tim says thoughtfully. Peter pulls out the folder that he’d gotten from the guidance counselor and slides his new class schedule across the table to Tim. 

“Anyway this is what I’ve got now,” It’s only a little bit of a diversion and Tim probably knows what Peter’s doing but he accepts the paper anyway and looks it over. 

The truth is that Peter’s staying at the Opera house for his own reasons and not just because of Jason. Getting a real apartment would feel real, permanent. It would feel like he’s giving up on ever getting back to his own world if he really set down roots here. Even school feels a bit too real. Peter knows that Doctor Strange hadn’t told him that he could ever come home. He hadn’t said anything about finding a way to make it safe or to bring Peter back into their universe. But Peter had promised MJ and Ned that he would come home to them. Did it even matter if they didn’t remember he existed? 

“You’ve got two classes with me and then economics at the end of the day. That’s not too bad,” Tim says. He moves Peter’s paperwork aside then lifts up his plate and pushes his leftovers onto Peter’s plate. 

“I tried to get as much as I could with you but I guess being in different grades was going to cause a problem at some point. You don’t mind, right? Having classes with me I mean?” 

“Why would I mind?” 

“I don’t know, I mean you do see a lot of me already and this would make it like a constant. The only time you wouldn’t see me is during your night job, and even then we might run into each other.” 

“Peter… I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not but I kinda enjoy spending time with you. I mean it’s not like I would be spending all my time in an abandoned building if I didn’t.” 

“You do?” Peter asks, perking up a bit.

“What the fuck? Yes obviously,” Tim says, looking completely flabbergasted. He pulls an energy drink out of his pocket and cracks it open. 

“I like spending time with you too,” Peter tells him. 

“That’s kinda like the basis of most friendships.” 

“I’m gonna give you a hug when we get up from the table,” Peter says, knocking his foot against Tim’s. Tim bares his teeth. 

“I will bite you. My shots aren’t up to date,” Tim threatens. 

“I’m pretty sure I’m immune to rabies, and if not I’m willing to take that risk.” 

“We could test if you’re immune.” 

“Still not letting you experiment on me.” 

“Worth a shot.” 

Chapter Text

Bruce

Bruce sits in his chair before the Batcomputer. His cape and cowl were thrown over the table beside him. He hadn’t planned to go out during the day. In fact, he’d had to give a weak excuse for missing a board meeting in order to do it. He was certain at first that whatever had been going on earlier had been something that Nightwing could handle on his own but the second he’d heard that it was Red Hood he’d rushed out. Jason had already gone after Tim twice, Tim who he hardly had a connection to. Bruce had heard the things Jason had to say. He knew where Jason’s hurt was coming from and he couldn’t imagine how that rage would translate to the man he’d considered a brother. 

He had not expected to arrive at that warehouse to find them hugging. Hadn’t expected Jason to let himself be manhandled and patched up the way. He wasn’t even arguing about it like he had when he was a kid. And Dick. Dick had immediately been ready to defend Red Hood. No hesitation on his face at the prospect of facing off against Bruce if it meant keeping his brother safe. Just like old times. Dick hadn’t been happy when Bruce had given Robin to Jason but one afternoon spent with that brightly smiling preteen had swayed him. Dick had taken one look at Jason in his family colors and claimed him as his own. 

Jason’s death had left an irreparable chasm in their relationship. Bruce had been so caught up in his own grief that he’d pushed everything else away. He hadn’t even remembered to inform Dick. He’s failed Dick in so many ways in their years together. He’d seen a lot of himself in the boy and he’d thought that making him his partner was the right thing. The way to keep him on the right path, and it had. Giving him an outlet had allowed Dick to thrive and stay on the mostly right side of the law, but Bruce had treated him as a partner and had forgotten that he was also a child. 

Bruce leans forward in his chair and restarts the video from Dick’s mask camera over from the beginning. He watches as Dick drops down into the warehouse and immediately gets the Red Hood's attention focused on him. Their fight goes about the same as when they sparred as children. Jason’s bigger now, and obviously has been trained far beyond what Bruce had given him. But he’s not going at it with his full strength. In fact, the moment that Nightwing had dropped into the room Jason’s guns had gone away. He still put up a good fight. Good enough that Dick had to tase him with the escrima stick in order to get Jason on the ground. The stick had gotten knocked away in their tussle but Dick still came out on top and got Red Hood pinned down. 

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you, Little Wing. It’s okay now. Just take deep breaths.” Dick had kept Jason pinned down but kept whispering comforting things to him until the crime lord had stopped struggling. 

Bruce continues watching the video and watches as Jason lets Dick hug him and comfort him. As Dick assures him that he knows it wasn’t his fault. That he wasn’t himself. Jason’s shoulders are slumped and even with the helmet on it’s clear how defeated he looks. Bruce knows about the Lazarus pits. He knows it’s how Ra’s keeps himself alive. He knows the side effects it can have. The white streak in Jason’s hair that he’d seen the night of the explosion was the most obvious sign. 

“You dropped Peter off at school, Bruce ambushed you guys. Peter got you to leave but I think you were already a little lost to the Pit. I would have come after you quicker but I needed to get Peter into the school and away from Bruce. By the time I left the school you had made it back to Crime Alley and were causing some chaos at one of Black Mask’s warehouses.” 

“Any innocents?” Jason had asked. Bruce frowns at their words. He had suspected that something was up with the boy he’d met this morning. The one that Dick had claimed to be his cousin. Bruce knew for sure that Dick had no blood family left but he’d thought it might have just been another child from the circus. One that Dick considered family through their shared history. But if the boy was also involved with Jason then something else must be going on. His friendship with Tim as well. 

Bruce was pretty sure this boy must be the meta teen from the Bludhaven recovery efforts, there was no actual video footage of them together from that night but He was pretty certain that Red Hood had also been there that night. So it’s likely that the meta teen that had Clark sending him message after message worried about another potential clone situation. Also likely that the boy was the one in the Spider costume at Titan’s Tower. He’d been attempting to find more information but so far it was as though he didn’t exist at all. Bruce suspected that he was living in Crime Alley with wherever Red Hood was hiding out. However, there were multiple missing periods of time on the CCTV footage in the area. Someone was wiping them. Was it Jason or the boy? Or did they have another helping hand? 

He’s about to look deeper into it when the cave’s intruder alarm goes off. Bruce inhales deeply and lets it back out before turning around to face the cave entrance. He’s not at all surprised when Superman lands in front of him. 

“I told you to stop entering Gotham without my permission,” Bruce reminds him. Clark just gives him a strained smile. 

“You stopped answering my texts,” He says. Bruce turns back to the computer.

“I have more important things to do than hunt down false Kryptonian rumors.” 

“False? Are you sure? Have you met him?” Clark floats closer to him wringing his hands together. 

“Briefly this morning,” he admits. 

“Only briefly? That’s… rare for you. I mean to let an unknown meta remain in Gotham without your knowledge.” 

“My children are going through a rebellious phase. They’ve claimed the boy as their own.”

“Dick and Tim are?” Clark rests a hand on the back of Bruce’s chair and looks at the computer screen. Paused on an image of Dick kneeling beside the Red Hood. 

“And Jason,” Bruce says. Clark frowns. 

“Little Jay? But he’s…” 

“Revived.” 

“He’s… he’s alive?” 

“It’s complicated. I’m dealing with it.”

“That’s why you haven’t had time to deal with the meta boy… Gosh Bruce I’m sorry. That must be so hard to deal with. If there’s any way I can help… Maybe I can look into things on my own for you? The boy at least.” 

“Hmm,” Bruce says as he goes back to analyzing the cameras around Crime Alley looking for what could have affected them. 

“That’s not a no then,” Clark says. “Thank’s Bruce. I’ll try it as Clark first so I don’t draw attention. I know you hate seeing the stories about Superman in Gotham.” Clark gives Bruce a quick pat on the shoulder and then he’s gone in a whirl of wind. Bruce brings a hand up to rub at his temples. Sometimes he wishes that he still drank. 

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter sits on the edge of a skyscraper in his Spider suit. His backpack rests beside him and a folder open on his lap as he works through his homework. It’s Friday afternoon and he’s survived his first short week of school. It hasn’t been terrible. Having classes with Tim makes it a little better especially after the younger teen had admitted to them being friends. Peter had thought so, but he doesn’t like to make assumptions. 

Things have been going pretty well. Maybe too well really. He’s gone to school during the day with Tim, he spends some time after school messing around in the lab they’ve built. He’s even been able to work on his web fluid, recreating some of the specialty fluids that he’d come up with Tony in his own world. He wanted to recreate his gliders next, they’d be convenient. He misses his extra arms too but they were a bit too technologically advanced for this world probably. He doesn’t know if the technology exists for him to even recreate the nanobots and it's only a matter of time before the few he does have run out of charge. So he needs to focus on rebuilding a charger really before he does anything else. 

“Uh excuse me,” A voice says from behind him. Peter finishes answering the question he’s on before turning around. That’s the one thing he hasn’t really enjoyed about the past few days. He’s had a bit of a stalker in the form of some sort of reporter. It almost makes him miss his silent shadow but somehow he has the idea that she’s around. 

“Hi,” Peter says as he puts his folder away then pulls his legs up and crosses them. The reporter shifts a bit nervously, eyes darting between Peter and the edge of the building. 

“You um… You seem comfortable with heights,” The reporter says. Peter tilts his head to the side as he takes in the man standing before him. He’s been doing his best to fully avoid him up until now so it's the first time he could really take him in. There’s something not right about him. His suit is ill-fitting, patched up in a couple of spots. He’s a big man, and even with the baggy suit, Peter can tell he’s got muscles. The spider sense seems unsure about him. Peter’s starting to think everyone in Gotham is just super weird. 

“Yeah always have been, they’re not dangerous for me,” Peter says with a shrug but he stands up and moves away from the ledge anyway. He knows that it makes people uncomfortable when they don’t know what he’s capable of. “You’ve been following me.” 

“You… You noticed?” 

“I can hear you,” Peter shrugs. “What’s your name?” 

“Oh! Sorry, that’s so rude of me. My Ma would be so disappointed. I’m Clark, Clark Kent,” He moves forward a bit, still eyeing the edge of the roof a bit nervously as he holds out a business card. Peter takes the card and glances at it quickly. 

“The daily planet. That’s not in Gotham is it?” Peter asks. 

“Oh no, I’m from Metropolis,” Clark rubs at the back of his neck, his glasses slipping down his nose. Peter rocks back on his heels. 

“That’s on the other side of the water right?” 

“You’re not familiar with it?” 

“No, I know you’re trying to get answers from me. Are you doing a story?” 

“Oh, sorry. I um… Is that okay? It’s not often that a new Hero shows up in Gotham. Especially one who doesn’t seem to have a connection to Batman,” Clark shrugs and sticks his hands in his pockets. 

“I don’t really have a good history with journalists where I’m from,” Peter says. He hops up to sit on top of the roof access door. Clark’s bright blue eyes track his movements. 

“Where’s that?” Clark asks. 

“New York, born and raised,” Peter kicks his feet against the side of the wall. 

“How did you come to be in Gotham?” 

“Just kind of did.” 

“Do you have friends here? Family?” Clark moves a little bit closer. 

“Um… I made friends, and I guess I found some family. It’s complicated and a little more than I’m willing to share, even if you do seem like a nice guy.” Peter props his elbows on his knees and rests his head in his hands. 

“What made you choose Spiderman? That’s what you go by isn’t it?” 

“Yep, Spider powers, Spider-man. With a hyphen. If you’re writing a story you can’t forget the hyphen okay? S-P-I-D-E-R hyphen M-A-N. People always forget the hyphen.” 

“You seem very passionate about that,” Clark says with a small laugh. 

“Wouldn’t you be?” 

“Spider-man, Nightwing is requesting com access. Shall I connect with him?” Karen asks. Clark’s head tilts just the tiniest bit and Peter gets the feeling that the man heard her somehow. 

“Yeah go ahead K, let him know I have company,” Peter says. 

“Who’s that?” Clark asks. 

“Little Spider you’re going to be late for dinner,” Dick says over the comms. “Who’s your company?” 

“A friend,” Peter says to Clark. “Sorry N I got talking to this nice reporter fellow and lost track of time.” 

“A reporter? Big guy? Kinda looks like the world's biggest teddy bear?” 

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” 

“Stay there, I'll come meet you.” 

“Oh okay. Do you know Nightwing?” He asks. Clark nods just a bit. 

“I um… I’ve heard of his work and met him a few times. Nothing memorable really. I mean. I doubt I’m memorable.” 

“Well, you must be because he’s on his way,” Peter’s eyes scan over the rooftops around him wondering which direction Dick will be coming from and how long it will take him to get there. If he was calling Peter for dinner at the Opera house then he probably didn’t have his suit with him. 

“Oh well I don’t want to take up his time,” Clark says nervously. Peter wonders what the reporter is really hiding. He’s surprised when he hears Dick’s heartbeat coming up the stairs instead of the roof, but he makes sure to pull his legs up before the roof access door opens and Dick steps out. 

“Hey Clark how’s it going?” Dick asks as he closes the door. 

“Ni-Di…” The reporter frowns and Dick laughs. 

“Either is fine. Little Spider here knows what’s up.” Dick says with a smile. 

“He does? How? I mean… Bruce didn’t say..” Clark glances between Dick and Peter, blue eyes calculating. 

“Bruce doesn’t need to know everything,” Dick shrugs. Peter hops down and lands beside him. Dick keeps his eyes on Clark but he wraps his arm around Peter’s shoulders and tucks him into his side. Peter leans into him and grins behind his mask. 

“I was um..” 

“You saw the news speculating that there was a new Kryptonian around right?” Dick asks. 

“Yeah I did,” Clark admits. 

“Not the case, sorry. I meant to let you know but things have been a little extra crazy around here lately. Little Spider is just meta.” 

“Radioactive Spider,” Peter adds helpfully, pointing at the nanobot spider on his suit. Clark frowns a bit as he looks at it. 

“What are those?” 

“My little friends,” Peter says. He’d made the mistake of calling them nanobots in front of Tim pretty shortly after they met and had been given a very in depth history lesson on what nanobots are in this universe. He hasn’t settled on a new name for them yet. 

“Tiny robots,” Dick explains a bit better, giving Peter’s shoulders a squeeze. “Kiddo, Clark’s a good guy. If he’s willing to not spill this to B then I’d be willing to invite him to join us for dinner.” 

“All of us?” 

“RH has some other plans so it’s just Robin waiting for us.” 

“Did you tell RH about me meeting Clark?" 

“Nope,” Dick grins “So what do you say?” Peter considers it. He doesn’t know exactly who Clark is supposed to be. Some sort of hero probably and Dick had mentioned him looking into the Kryptonian rumors which meant he was probably one of the Supers that Tim had told him about. 

“Should we ask Red?” Peter asks. 

“You can if it would make you more comfortable,” he says gently. Peter isn’t sure. He wants to be able to trust what Dick says. After all, Dick is technically his father, right? But Jason has had his back since he landed here. 

“Hey Karen, can you connect me to Red?” Peter asks. 

“You are connected now Spider-man,” Karen says.

“What’s up, twerp?” Jason asks. There’s something that sounds suspiciously like gunfire in the distance. Clark tenses up, head turning further into the direction of Crime Alley. 

“There’s a reporter named Clark here. Nightwing says he’s a good guy though so should I go to dinner with them?” 

“Ah, shit big blue is in town? Fucking hell. Yeah, whatever keeps him busy. Don’t listen to his bullshit about B. Oh, you motherfucker!” Jason’s comms cut out and Peter winces. 

“Okie dokie looks like dinner is on,” Peter says. “Where are we going?” 

“Why don’t we bring it up here?” Dick suggests. “Less likely to run into problems on rooftops after all.” 

“But more likely to run into Bats,” Peter reminds him. 

“With you and Clark here listening for him we’ll be fine,” Dick brings a hand up to touch the comm in his ear. “Robin, you hear the change in plans?” 

“Yeah, I got you. I’m on the way with the food but Supes will need to pick up his own,” Tim’s voice comes  in. A moment later Peter spots him jumping across the rooftops towards them in his Robin costume. 

“You hear that, Clark?” Dick asks. Clark nods and suddenly vanishes for just a moment before reappearing with a lunch pail and a large quilted blanket. 

“Can’t have a picnic without a blanket,” Clark says with a shy smile. Dick snorts out a laugh and Peter nods his head. Robin lands on the roof they’re on. 

“Food delivery,” He says.

“Thanks, kiddo,” Dick takes the plastic bags of food from him and moves to help Clark set out the blanket. Peter holds up his fist to Tim and smiles when the other teen knocks his own against it. The four of them sit down on the blanket once it’s ready and Dick starts to pull out all the food to set out before them. Tim and Dick both look pretty comfortable with the man's presence. Peter’s eyes dart between them and Clark for a moment. They seem to trust him, and while Jason didn’t give a ringing endorsement he also didn’t give a vehement no like he does anything involving Batman. So whoever Clark is should be safe. Peter pulls off his mask and shakes out his hair to try and get rid of some of his mask hair. 

“Oh gosh,” Clark says, a hand coming up to cover his mouth as his eyes dart between Dick and Peter. Dick’s grin widens and he ruffles his hand through Peter’s hair.

“Clark, this is my son, Peter,” Dick says. 

“I um… Son?” Clark asks. 

“Time travel shenanigans,” Tim says. 

“Also dimensional travel,” Dick adds. 

“You bats,” Clark says with a sigh. 

“You’re literally from another planet,” Tim reminds him. 

“I’m just from another world,” Peter shrugs. “And in that world, Dick Grayson is a scientist named Richard Parker.”

“So then… Dick isn’t your father?” 

“Only genetically,” Peter makes sure that Tim and Dick have enough food and then takes some for himself. 

“But look at him!” Dick says pulling Peter close again. “He’s got my smile and my curls!” 

“He’s got his terrible humor too,” Tim adds. “If I have to hear one more pun I’m going to gouge my ears out.”

“That… doesn’t sound healthy,” Clark says. 

“Listening to them both spouting off puns at criminals isn’t healthy.”

“Then stop listening to my comms,” Peter says. 

“No way RH said that one of us should be listening whenever you put on that costume so it’s going to be one of us.” 

“He’s so overprotective,” Peter sighs. 

“It’s not being overprotective,” Dick says. “None of us go out completely solo. I agree with RH that you deserve extra cover. So if it isn’t one of us then Oracle can help you out.” 

“Are they always like this?” Peter asks Clark. Clark is still looking at him with a shocked look on his face and Peter wonders if he’s also always like that. 

“Yeah… sort of,” Clark admits. “So is… are things the same in your universe? I mean, since you’re obviously a hero too.” 

“No,” Peter admits. “No one else in my family is like this in my world. My parents were scientists.” 

“Oh… They were?” 

“I’m an orphan,” Peter says. “That does seem to run in the family.” He feels a little bad when he sees the look on Dick’s face after he says that. He scoots closer and presses himself to Dick’s side as an apology. Dick brushes a hand through Peter’s hair and smiles at him gently. 

“So then… does this mean Bruce is a grandfather?” Clark asks. Dick and Tim are both silent for a moment and then they both burst into laughter. Tim falls backwards and his head makes a pretty solid thunk when it hits the roof but he just rolls onto his side and keeps laughing. Dick drops his head onto Peter’s shoulder as he laughs. They’re both so ridiculous that Peter can’t help but join them. 

“What the fuck did you do to break them boy scout?” Jason asks as he lands on the roof. Clark is on his feet the moment he spots Jason in his full Red Hood getup. Peter wonders if he can also smell the gunpowder and blood scent that follows Jason. 

“Jay!” Dick says, sitting back up. “Bruce is a grandpa!” Tim’s face is turning red from holding in his laughter. Jason’s got his helmet on but Peter’s pretty sure if he could see his face his jaw would have dropped. 

“Well shit,” Jason says. Clark looks like he’s ready to fight Jason to defend them. Peter meets Jason’s gaze and then reaches up to tap his own head. Jason sighs then takes his helmet off and tosses it to Peter. He’s got his domino mask underneath like usual but the features that are visible must be enough. 

“You’re Jason,” Clark says. “You’re really Jason. How… You’re alive?” 

“Yep,” Jason says as he walks over to join them and drops down on Peter’s other side. Clark leans forward and grabs Jason into a hug floating a bit in the air. 

“Hey!” Jason snaps trying to wiggle free from the alien’s hold. 

“You’ve gotten so big!” Clark says. He holds Jason out so he can look him over properly. Jason kicks his feet that are dangling in the air. 

“Yeah had all those years of fucking malnutrition drowned out of me. Now put me down before I shoot your fucking kneecaps!” 

“The ricochet is just gonna cause all of us problems,” Tim says, rolling his eyes. 

“Fucking bulletproof bastard,” Jason gets himself free and moves back behind Dick and Peter. He straightens out his suit and brushes off his shoulders like he can get rid of the man’s touch. Peter grabs onto one of Jason’s holsters and gives it a tug. 

“Sit and eat,” He says. Jason curses under his breath but he does sit back down and take some food for himself. Peter gives him a bright smile and knocks their shoulders together. “I thought you weren’t going to make dinner.” 

“I finished up what I was doing early,” Jason says. 

“You mean you heard Peter say that we were going to eat with Clark and decided you needed to be here to act as protector,” Tim says. Jason glares at the younger Robin and takes a large bite of his food instead of giving him an answer. 

“I feel like I’ve missed a lot,” Clark says. 

“You definitely have Uncle Clark,” Dick says, looking at Peter and Jason with a fond look. “You should come around more often.” 

“Yeah, I know I’m sorry. It’s been a little hard with Jon’s powers coming in and stuff.” 

“And Kon,” Tim reminds him.

“And Kon,” Clark confirms. Tim rolls his eyes about that and Peter wonders what the history there is. He remembers one of them saying that Tim had a crush on a hero called Superboy and maybe something about him being a clone. He has a feeling that there’s some history there he should learn. He had met Superboy at the Titan’s tower very briefly but he’d had other things to focus on at the time. 

There’s a lull in their conversation for a bit as the five of them focus on their food. Peter’s happy with it. It’s nice to be able to eat with friends after a patrol instead of by himself. There’s a buzz of his spider sense and he turns to look behind himself, there’s a growing shadow beside the roof door and a familiar presence lurks within it. 

“My friend is here,” Peter says. He puts a small portion of food onto an extra plate and holds it out. 

“Friend?” Jason asks suspiciously, his hand going to one of his guns. 

“It’s safe,” Peter promises, knocking Jason’s hand away with his free hand. The black clad figure that Peter’s met a few times now appears from the shadows. She walks towards them hesitantly on silent feet. All three of the younger members look nervous at her approach. 

“Who is your friend?” Dick asks. 

“I don’t know,” Peter says, keeping a smile on his face. He hands the plate over to her when she’s close enough. “Do you want to join us?” Her face is still hidden in the shadows of her hood but Peter can feel her gaze dart among the members of the group before she gives a quick shake no. 

“That’s okay, enjoy the food alright. See you later?” He asks. She holds the plate with both hands and nods her head yes before she disappears back into the shadows. 

“Peter,” Tim says. “Did you… befriend an assassin?” 

“Don’t know,” Peter says, turning back to face the group. “But she seems nice enough.” 

“Jesus Christ you have no self preservation skills,” Jason grumbles as he pulls Peter into a headlock. Peter just grins at them as Jason gives him a noogie. 

Chapter Text

Dick

As it gets later in the day Dick knows that it’s only a matter of time before he and Tim get pulled away to do their patrols but he can’t help but want to spend just a few more minutes on this rooftop with his friends and his favorite uncle. Jason, Tim, and Peter sit on the edge of the roof. Their feet dangle over the side and they lean into Tim in the middle and watch him play his handheld game while Peter and Jason shout suggestions at him. If it wasn’t for the rooftop setting and their costumes they’d almost seem like perfectly normal kids and Dick wants that for them more than anything. 

“He really does look a lot like you,” Clark says. He’d stuck around even after the food had been finished, his gaze darting between Jason and Peter. Dick supposes that it is hard to get two shocks like that in one day. Peter glances over his shoulder at them and Dick gives him a small wave. He knows whatever he and Clark say will be overheard by the boy but he isn’t worried about it. 

“Yeah, he does. Dye his hair black and give him some blue contacts and I don’t think anyone would notice he wasn’t me.”

“The rogues of Gotham would probably be terrified if they thought it was the teenage version of you under that mask of his,” Clark teases. Dick can’t help but grin at that. He’d been a little terror as a kid and while age had made him mostly mellow out he still had his moments. 

“It’s a good backup plan if he ever runs into more trouble than he can handle,” he says with a shrug. 

“And Jason?” Clark asks. Dick is sure that he’s noted that Jason being alive is probably a more sensitive subject right now, and he’s not completely wrong. For years Dick has wanted nothing more than for his brother to be alive. To know that he hadn’t failed him. That he hadn’t trusted Bruce to not screw up with Jason worse even than he had with Dick. 

“He’s alive. Anything beyond that we’ll deal with. He’s been through a lot, more than we can probably imagine. From what I understand he woke up in his coffin around six months after he died. He hasn’t said much about the time between then and now but I’ve been trying to track it. I think… I think I might have run into him during that time and not even realized it was him.” 

“What do you mean?” Clark asks. Jason and Tim start fighting over the game. Peter grabs onto both of them to keep them from falling off the roof so Dick isn’t too worried.

“I was on a mission with one of my teams, there was this island that had been taken over by the league. I was… I wasn’t really myself during that time. The grief of losing Jason was a lot to handle. I fought a league assassin there. They called him the red hooded ninja and… He never said anything. He was completely silent the entire time. I didn’t even think much of it at the time. He wore a hood and a face mask so… Anyway, I had to fight Jason a few days ago. He was put into the Lazarus pit and he’s still struggling with the side effects. The pit rage. I had to fight him to calm him down and it felt like that fight. I keep thinking… I should have known. There was a lot happening but that was Jason. I was so close to him.” 

“Dick…If you had known then could you have done anything to get him out of there?” 

“I don’t know… but I could have tried. If I had known I would have done everything in my power to bring him home. To keep him safe. Robin might be Batman’s partner but those are my colors. My family. I couldn’t save my parents. But I’ll be damned if I let anyone else die in that costume.” 

“Guys come on! You’re going to make me drop it!” Tim complains as now both Peter and Jason are attempting to take the game from him. 

“Take turns, Timmy!” Dick calls to him. 

“Dick!” Tim shouts, sounding more like an insult than a name. Dick lets out a fond sigh and moves forward to break up their fight, he grabs Tim’s cape and Peter’s suit in one hand and Jason’s jacket in the other to drag them all away from the ledge of the roof. They collapse together into a pile of laughter on the roof and well Dick can’t be too mad about it. Not with Jason’s laughter ringing in his ears, deeper now than when he was a wide eyed kid who thought being Robin made him magic but still just as bright. 

“He said take turns, Timmy!” Peter says snagging the game away from Tim and crawling free of the tangle of bodies. Tim curses and tries to go after him but Jason grabs him in a choke hold and keeps him from following. Peter gets to his feet and jumps above the roof access door and crouches down to play the game. 

“Were you brats raised by wolves or something?” Dick asks as he attempts to free Tim from Jason.

“Yeah basically,” Tim says. 

“He’s not wrong,” Jason agrees. Dick throws his hands up in exasperation and leaves them wrestling on the ground. 

“Uncle Clark a little help?” Dick asks. Clark is chuckling at them but he does come forward and pick Tim and Jason up by the back of their suits separating them. Tim crosses his arms and bares his teeth at Jason. Jason just holds up both hands and flips them all off. 

“Little Wing, as nice as it is to see you getting along with Timmy, maybe don’t do it by wrestling on top of a skyscraper?” 

“You suck,” Jason says. He slips free of his leather jacket Clark had been holding him by and ducks away before Dick can grab him. Clark folds up the jacket and holds it in his arms. “Don’t you losers have to go patrol?” 

“Yeah we probably should get going,” Dick admits as he checks the time on his watch. “Bruce will give us a lecture if we’re late. Uncle Clark, any chance we could get a lift actually?” 

“Sure I can do that,” Clark says. Jason snatches his jacket back from the older man and punches Tim in the arm before going to stand below Peter’s perch. 

“I’m already suited up!” Tim says. 

“You still need to be present for the pre-patrol meeting,” Dick reminds him. 

“I’m going to patrol with Peter again anyway,” Tim tries to get away but Dick has a hold of his cape again. 

“Bruce isn’t going to let you patrol solo after Red Hood has made another appearance.”

“Ugh Jason you ruin everything,” Tim’s hand darts to his batarang pouch but Dick catches his wrist before he can actually throw anything. 

“Eat shit replacement,” Jason says with his middle finger raised. 

“Jason! Tim!” Dick scolds.  

“He started it!” 

“Well I’m finishing it,” Dick throws Tim over his shoulder then looks up at Peter. “Little Spider, are you going to stay out in costume?” 

“Yeah probably for a little bit. But I’ll have Karen keeping an eye out for you guys and Batman so we don’t run into each other,” Peter hops down and gives Tim his game back then grabs Jason’s arm and pulls him towards the side of the roof. “Jason’s gonna patrol with me.”

“Alright, you guys have fun. Reach out if you need me,” Dick looks at Clark with a smile on his face. “Let’s get going.” There’s a blur of movement and then Clark is Superman. He grabs hold of Tim and Dick and in a matter of seconds, they’re being deposited carefully back in the Batcave. Bruce looks at all three of them from his chair at the Batcomputer.

“Clark,” He says, his voice laced with disapproval. 

“Thanks for the lift Uncle Clark,” Dick says, giving the superhero a pat on the shoulder before disappearing into the changing room to suit up. Tim moves over to the Batcomputer and slides Bruce’s chair to the side before he starts to type. 

“Hmm,” Bruce says, getting to his feet and sliding the chair back for Tim. Tim sits and crosses his legs. 

“Just having some dinner with the boys,” Clark explains. 

“You can leave now,” Bruce tells him. He swings his cape onto his shoulders.

“Oh, sure I suppose,” Clark says, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Bye Clark,” Tim says without looking away from the computer screen. 

“Bye Tim, Bye Bruce. Let Dick know I said bye,” Clark says before flying out of the cave. 

“What was he doing?” Bruce asks. Tim reaches for the coffee mug Bruce had left on the counter and frowns at the now cold liquid but drinks it anyway. 

“Looking for the Kryptonian kid the news was talking about,” Tim says. 

“Did he find him?” 

“No Kryptonian to be found, but you knew that. You also knew what Clark was doing here so you’re trying to get information out of me, not about Clark.” 

“Yes.” 

“Well I’m not giving you anything,” Tim scrolls quickly through case files on the screen. 

“But you do know something.”

“I know that he’s not a Kryptonian.” 

“And he’s attending your school as Dick’s cousin.” 

“That too,” Tim pulls an energy drink out of his utility belt and cracks it open taking a long drink. 

“Bruce, stop interrogating the child,” Dick says, coming out to join them now fully suited up. 

“I wouldn’t have to interrogate my children if they weren’t keeping secrets from me.” 

“I’m not your child,” Tim says. 

“Not yet,” Dick says as he hops up to sit on a table. He snags the energy drink from Tim and uses his foot to push Tim’s chair away so he can’t reach it. He sniffs at the can and wrinkles his nose. “What is this battery acid?” 

“It’s my caffeine. Give it back!” Tim says. 

“Boys,” Bruce says with his best 'tired dad' voice. 

“The kid’s not a threat Bruce,” Dick says. He gives the can back to Tim reluctantly. “And he’s my responsibility now.” 

“You’ve taken responsibility for an unknown meta running around Gotham in what appears to be spandex.” 

“It’s more durable than that,” Tim says unhelpfully. “It’s probably not bullet proof though.” 

“He’s not a threat Bruce,” Dick says.

“He’s associated with the Red Hood.” 

“He is friends with Jason,” Dick corrects. “He’s a teenager trained to fight living on the streets of Gotham. I think you’re just mad I claimed guardianship before you could.” Tim snorts at that though Bruce looks far from amused. 

“You’ll get to meet him when you make up with Jason,” Tim says. “Until then he has strict instructions to avoid you.” 

“Besides, don't you have anything else to do besides trying to find him? Like I don’t know, dealing with the assassin girl running around Gotham?” 

“Cassandra Cain,” Bruce says. 

“Cain? Like David Cain?” Tim asks, turning away from the computer to look at Bruce. 

“His daughter, with Lady Shiva.” 

“That’s a scary combination,” Tim says. “So you’ve known she’s been here in town?” 

“For a few months now. She ran from her father. She’s been staying occasionally with Barbara but she has an invite to join us here at the manor.” 

“Do we have a new sister then? How old is she?” 

“It’s her choice. She’s been on her own since she was eight as best we can tell. She’s unable to speak as of right now though she and Barbara have been working on sign language.” 

“She seems to have imprinted on Peter,” Dick says. Hoping that Bruce gets his unasked question.

“She won’t harm him,” Bruce answers. 

“And neither will you,” Dick says. “Peter is under my protection. Just let him be. He won’t cause any problems and messing with him will only cause problems with Jason as well. Which is the last thing we need if we’re going to bring him home.” 

“You think Jason will come home?” Bruce says. His face stays blank but Dick knows him well enough. He can see that tiny bit of hope in Bruce’s eyes. He looks across the cave to where the Robin suit sits in its case. The rips and blood stains still stand out prominently. Dick hates that display. Hates the plaque that sits in front of it. 

“I think if we do things right he will,” Dick points at the case. “But that has to go.” 

“That’s…” 

“No Dick’s right about that,” Tim says thoughtfully. “Talia dunked Jason in the Lazarus pit. He loses himself to the pit madness. Peter’s pretty good at getting him out of it but it isn’t fun for anyone.” 

“Talia?” 

“Jason’s been with the league,” Dick tells him. “He was only dead for six months, Bruce. He pulled himself from his grave and Talia got ahold of him.” 

“Take my patrol with Robin tonight. I need to make a call.” 

“Great. Come on Timmers let’s hit the road,” Dick says heading for his bike.

“She fucked with Jason’s head Bruce. It’s the only reason he went after me,” Tim adds before going to his own bike. Dick waits until Tim is ready and then they both take off out of the cave.

Bruce

  “Hello Beloved,” Talia says smoothly as the call connects. Bruce’s hands tighten on the arms of his chair as he forces himself to remain calm. 

“We need to talk about you keeping my son from me,” He says, his anger leaking out into his voice. 

“So he made his way to Gotham then? I wondered where he’d gotten off to,” She sounds almost amused about it. 

“How long did you know he was alive?” Bruce demands. Talia is silent on the other end of the line for a long moment. 

“Oh, this is about Jason? That’s old news, Beloved. Call me again when he finds you and then we can talk,” The line goes dead. Bruce sits taking deep breaths in. Who did she think he was calling about if it wasn’t Jason?

Chapter Text

Jason

Jason crouches on the ground at the ledge of a roof, his binoculars held over his eyes as he scans each window of the building on the other side of the street. The rain falls steadily and his jacket has already soaked through. It makes him think of his childhood, crouched on rooftops with Batman, taking shelter in the warmth of the cape to escape the nearly never ending rain. 

“This is sooo boring,” Peter complains from below him. He’s hung upside down over the edge of the building, one foot tucked into one of Jason’s shoulder holsters to make sure he doesn’t just fall to his doom if his stickiness suddenly gives up or something. Peter had been insistent that he’d be fine, and that sometimes he thought better when he was upside down. But Jason still didn’t like the idea of the kid dangling off a building on his own. He’d used his nanobots to turn his suit entirely black though so at least he didn’t stand out in the dark like a big red target. 

“It’s a stakeout, it's not supposed to be fun,” Jason reminds him. 

“Do you do this often?” 

“Sometimes,” Jason shifts slightly so he doesn’t grow uncomfortable. His sniper lays on the ground beside where he kneels and honestly, he’s pretty sure the only reason Peter is literally hanging around is to keep Jason from using it tonight. He’d had to swing back to the Opera house to pick it up before coming on this stakeout and Peter had caught him and insisted on joining him. He wasn’t exactly going to be able to move quickly to get the sniper into place with a literal giant spider hanging off of him. 

“You’ve got a better attention span than me,” Peter says, stretching his arms out above his head. 

“Bats is big on meditation. It’s one of the first things he taught me. How to sit still and quiet for hours on end.” 

“Did that work?” 

“I did better than Nightwing ever did. Probably the only thing I was ever better at than him. Fucking golden boy,” Jason scoffs. 

“Do you actually believe that?” Peter sits himself up. Usually, Jason would say yes immediately. Dick has always been Bruce’s preferred partner. The perfect Boy Wonder that Jason would never be good enough to replace. He gets the feeling though that Peter wouldn’t just accept that answer. 

“It felt like that, back then,” Jason admits instead. “I was nobody, just a street kid from Crime Alley. Nothing but a half assed education and the ability to steal tires in a matter of seconds. Robin was… God dammit, you tell anyone I fucking said this and I will drop you in the fucking harbor… Robin was magic. This bright little gremlin who followed Batman around fighting bad guys with a laugh. He made Batman better and suddenly Robin was me. I had no idea how I was supposed to live up to that and Batman had no fucking idea what to do with me either.” 

“But you figured it out didn’t you?” Peter asks. Jason pulls his binoculars away from his eyes and fiddles with them a bit. 

“I don’t think I did. I trained, I learned all of N’s ridiculous fucking backflips and I worked my ass off… But in the end, it wasn’t enough. Batman fired me, he said it was for my own good. Said I had too much anger. Well, look where we fucking are now.” 

“Alive with a second chance to get things right?” Peter asks.

“Optimistic little bastard,” Jason returns his focus to the task at hand. 

“It went better with Nightwing than you thought it would, didn't it?” 

“Yeah, but Nightwing is not Batman. Dickwad is the best of us all and has no fucking idea.” 

“Aw, you love him,” Peter teases. Jason flips him off and Peter drops back so he’s dangling again, his foot nearly coming free with the movement. Jason reacts quickly bringing one hand up to grasp Peter’s ankle til he’s still. 

“Would you stop trying to fucking die? I’d never hear the end of it from Nightwing and the bitch ass replacement if I’m the one that lets you die.” 

“Ja-”

“Names.” 

“Red Hood, I am Spider-man. Spider! Even if I wasn’t sticking to the building I could still catch myself with the literal webs I have on my wrists.”

“I wouldn’t care if you were made of actual spiders. You’re freaking me out.” 

“That’s shockingly sentimental of you Akhi,” A young voice says. Jason freezes. He knows that voice. It’s familiar in an aching sort of way. Jason reaches down to grab ahold of Peter’s suit and haul him back onto the roof then turns towards the source of the voice. Peter sprawls on the roof beside him, surprised at the sudden change. A child stands in the shadows of the roof, there’s a scarf around his head but his green eyes are a flash of color in the dark. 

“Damian,” Jason says. He remembers this kid, the memories are vague but they’re still there. He remembers kneeling in a candle lit room. He remembers an impossibly small bundle being thrust into his arms and the piercing cries of an infant. 

“Who’s Damian?” Peter asks. 

“Who I am is of no concern to you peasant,” The boy snaps at him. Despite his mask, Jason can tell that Peter is startled by the vitriol from the child. 

“Be polite,” Jason scolds him. Damian crosses his arms and glares at the two of them. Something about seeing the kid here in Gotham feels off. Something isn’t right about it but Jason’s pretty sure that most of his interactions with the kid happened before his bath in the green goop and while the memories are there it’s like they’re coming from an old camera with the film left exposed. 

“You did not return,” Damian snaps at him. 

“Talia shoved me in the Lazarus pit and sent me on a mission,” Jason says. Damian frowns at that and moves closer to them. One hand reaches back to grab the hilt of the sword strapped to his back as he eyes Peter suspiciously. 

“You have been restored them?” Damian asks.

“She didn’t tell you?”

“No… Mother must have not thought it was prudent for me to know.” 

“Sorry kid…” Jason says, and he is sorry. The more he looks at the boy the more things clear up a bit. His brain had been mush but he’d still been able to follow orders, probably better than he was able to with his memories. The boy had been one of Jason’s duties. Seeing to his needs, training him along with the trainers picked by Talia. Talia’s son, Bruce’s son. 

“I have decided that my mother's plans are too slow for my taste,” Damian says. 

“Fuck, you ran away?” 

“Yes, I did.”

“Red?” Peter asks. Jason’s not sure what the hell he’s supposed to do with the kid now that he’s here. Probably best to hand him off to Dick but he doesn’t know what kind of shit Talia’s filled his head with and despite his small stature he’s definitely a threat and Dick will be too trusting of him. 

“Spider-man this is Damian Al Ghul,” Jason introduces them. “Damian this is Spider-man.”

“What do I care who he is?” Damian asks. 

“Because he’s with me. Technically he’s your nephew,” Jason says with a grin. 

“Nephew?” Peter asks. 

“Yeah, he belongs to the Bat,” deciding that his mission is clearly a bust at this point Jason gets to his feet and packs away his equipment back into their cases. “Damian, The Spider is Nightwing’s son. He lives with me. If you aren’t planning on running back to mommy then you can stay with us. But there are going to be strict rules.” 

“I do not belong to anyone, and I will not follow your rules.” 

“This is not up for debate. You want my help, you listen to my rules. Understand pipsqueak?” 

“Tt, fine. I will agree to your terms Todd,” Damian finally releases his hold on the sword in order to cross his arms and give as much of a petulant face as his eight year old self can muster. Jason wouldn’t say it out loud but it’s pretty cute on his little baby face. 

“Great,” Jason hands his sniper case to Peter who holds it very gingerly with both hands away from his body. “This okay with you Spider-man? Just for a little bit?” 

“I mean he’s a little guy, I’m not gonna let him sleep on the streets or something… Well, more than we’re considered on the streets…” 

“He’s a little guy but he’s got a mean bite so watch yourself,” Jason heads for the fire escape. There’s a brief pause and then he hears the sound of both of them following him. He knows that they’re both pretty silent when they want to be though so they must be making the noise either for his benefit or for each other. He isn’t sure which yet and he’s not at all prepared for the headache that Damian’s appearance is going to bring him. The sooner he can determine if the kid is a threat to Dick or Tim the sooner he can pass him off. 

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter sits upside down on the bottom of the sleeping box, he’s changed out of his suit and into his pajamas so he’s tucked his shirt into his sweatpants to keep it from slipping up. He lets out a large yawn. He’d been hoping to get to sleep relatively early for school Monday morning but now there’s a rather stabby looking toddler walking around their Opera house with a judgemental look on his face. 

“This is where you’re living?” The boy asks, coming to a stop on the stage. He’s glaring down into the villain's lair where Jason’s going through his usual process of cleaning his weapons. 

“It’s a safe house,” Jason reminds him. Jason had pulled Peter aside on their way back from the stakeout and explained the kid a bit. He’d told Peter before how he’d been taken in by a league of assassins after he came back to life and completed his training with them. Apparently, the kid was like league royalty and also the son of Bruce Wayne, who apparently had no idea that the kid existed. As prickly about the whole thing Jason seemed it was pretty obvious that he was concerned about the kid and what his arrival in Gotham meant. 

“It’s a safe home,” Peter adds cheerfully. 

“Mother would be disgusted by this shack.” 

“It’s literally an Opera house,” Jason says as he jumps out of the pit and onto the stage. “This place was the top of Gotham’s opulence before grandma and grandpa Wayne bit the dust outside.” 

“Is that why Batman doesn’t come here?” Peter asks. 

“Yeah,” Jason grabs the back of Damian’s shirt and pulls him away from Peter and Tim’s ongoing experiment table. “Keep your hands to yourself, pipsqueak.” 

“What is all of this?” He asks. 

“That’s me and Tim’s experiment table,” Peter shoots out a web and swings down to the stage. “We’re trying to figure out how to make taser webs.” 

“Taser webs?” Damian asks, sounding surprisingly interested. 

“Nope, not happening. No Taser webs for toddlers,” Jason says. 

“I am obviously not a toddler, Ahki,” Damian snaps at him. 

“Barely,” Jason tucks the kid under his arm to keep him from getting into anything and Peter almost laughs at the way he looks like an angry cat. 

“Why has Drake been in your safe house?” Damian asks. “You were supposed to end him so that I can take my rightful place as Robin!” 

“What?” 

“What the fuck?” Peter and Jason both stare at Damian. 

“Why are you acting surprised?” Damian asks. “Surely you remember that Mother’s plan was for you to take Drake out of the way. Then once I got rid of Grayson I could take my rightful place as father’s one and only heir and as Robin.” 

“Jesus fucking christ,” Jason curses. 

“Um… I don’t think that’s how that works.” Peter says. 

“Of course it is!” Damian snaps at him. 

“No Pete’s right kid. You can’t just take out the competition. This isn’t the fucking league. Those rules don’t apply here.” 

“Also Robin doesn’t belong to Batman,” Peter adds. 

“Robin is Batman’s partner. Of course, it’s my rightful title,” Damian says. 

“Well that’s the thing,” Peter leans on the table so he’s more on level with the kid. “Your whole plan seems to be that being Batman’s blood means you have the right. But from what I can tell if that was the case you would maybe have the right to inherit the Batman title. Dick was the first Robin and Robin comes from his family.” 

“Yeah you’ve got a point,” Jason says. “Dick’s always had a whole thing about Robin belonging to him. Not to mention no one fucking wants the Batman title. You’re more than welcome to take that burden.” 

“I…” Damian’s face screws up into a scowl. “I do not understand.” 

“Yeah I’m kinda getting that,” Jason sets Damian back on his feet and kneels down in front of the kid. “I’m going to be straight with you.”

“I should hope so,” Damian crosses his arms and he’s clearly trying to look tough. Peter does his best not to coo at the little guy but he has no control over the grin on his face.

“Okay. You know how I was when I was with the league right?” Jason asks. “Before Talia put me in the pit?” 

“Yes, your brain damage was extensive. You could not speak.” 

“Yeah… It kind of sucked. The pit healed me but I’m still not quite all back together. My memories between my death and being reborn in the pit aren’t that clear.” 

“You do not remember me?” His lip is quivering. Peter wants to give him a hug but he’s pretty sure he’d end up with a dagger in his ribs if he tried.

“I do remember you but… It’s not clear yet. I’m working on it and honestly, the longer I spend with you the more I’m remembering. But whatever plans Talia had… I don’t really remember that. I know that after the pit she used my rage to try to manipulate me. She told me that Bruce had replaced me and she wanted me to hurt Tim.” 

“Because he is standing in the way of me becoming Robin!” Damian says. 

“He’s not,” Jason says. “And… He didn’t replace me either. Robin belongs to Tim right now and even if Tim wasn’t there you’d be too young to take the title.” 

“Grayson was eight when he was taken in by Father.” 

“And he was ten when Bruce decided he’d completed his training and let him go out as Robin.” 

“I am already far more trained than Grayson. I am ready.” 

“Not in a way that Bruce will approve of. His number one rule is no killing. Can you do that right now? Can you fight someone without mortally wounding them?” 

“It can’t be that hard.” 

“Trust me kid it is.” 

“I will learn.”

“Not until you can promise me you won’t go after Dick or Tim,” Jason stands back up and runs his hand through his hair. “Alright, school age children need to shower and go to bed. Dami, do you have any clothes besides what you’re wearing?” 

“Of course not. Carrying a bag with me would have hindered my ability to be stealthy.” 

“Cool. Nothing like a tiny little ninja to keep under the radar. Fine, you’ll have to sleep in that getup tonight and stay here tomorrow while I go find you some normal clothes.” 

“Isn’t he a little young to stay on his own? Do you need me to stay home from school?” Peter hops over the table. 

“No, you are not getting out of school. Damian got himself clear to another country on his own. He can spend an hour or two in the Opera house without burning it to the ground.”

“Maybe by accident, on purpose is another story,” Peter mumbles as he heads to the showers backstage. He’d messaged Tim not to come to the Opera house tonight and now he’s kind of glad he did. If the kid had come here with plans to take out Dick and Tim then it's probably best if they were kept apart just until Jason can convince him that his mother’s plan had been wrong. Peter’s already had to keep Jason from taking out Tim the last thing he needs to do is babysit a murderous toddler. 

By the time Peter is done getting ready for the night and makes it up to the sleeping box Jason and Damian are both already up there. Damian sits cross legged on Jason’s sleeping bag with his arms crossed in front of him. There’s a pile of sharp looking weapons lying on the ground in front of him. It almost makes him appreciate Jason’s guns more. At least they have a safety on them. 

“Is that it?” Jason asks. 

“Yes,” Damian says with a defiant tilt of his head. Peter drops down onto his own sleeping bag and picks up his chemistry textbook, turning on the book light he’d left clipped to it. Jason gathers up all of the daggers and the sword then heads back down to the orchestra pit to put them somewhere safe. Peter tries to focus on the chapter he was supposed to read but he can feel Damian’s eyes on him. 

“What?” He asks, tilting the book aside so he can see the kid properly. 

“You are too old to be the son of Grayson.” 

“It’s complicated?” 

“How?” 

“What do you know about the multiverse?” He asks. 

“I have studied it briefly with my tutors, though because it was only a theory they did not see it necessary to go into a fully in depth education on it.” 

“Oh really? Dope,” Peter sits up straighter and sets his book aside. “Well, I’m actually from another universe. A spell went wrong and in order to solve it the sorcerer supreme of my world Doctor Strange had to send me to a universe where I don’t exist. Which turns out it’s this one.” 

“So then this Grayson is not actually your father?” 

“I mean if you do a DNA test he would come back as my father. He’s just this universe's version of him. The timelines don’t really match up obviously. My father was in his thirties when he had me and he was a scientist, not a vigilante.” 

“Is that how you got your enhancements? Medical testing?” Damian seems weirdly interested in this and Peter’s a little concerned about that. 

“Um… My father didn’t directly do it… But when he was alive he did work on the project that ultimately resulted in my enhancements.” 

“Really? Grayson does not seem smart enough for that kind of thing. I have looked extensively into his records. He didn’t even finish college.” 

“Different worlds, different families,” Peter shrugs. 

“Less violence,” Jason says as he rejoins them and sits on Tim’s sleeping bag. 

“I will have to revise what I know of Grayson,” Damian says thoughtfully. 

“You’re going to have to do a lot of revision,” Jason says. “Get some sleep, pipsqueak.” Jason lays down and pulls a pillow over his head. Peter picks his book back up. 

“You aren’t going to sleep?” Damian asks.

“I have school in the morning, I need to finish my homework,” Peter says as he finds the page he was supposed to be on.

“Why are you attending school in this universe? Do you not plan to go back to your own?” 

“I can’t go back. This is my home now so I have to make a life for myself here.” 

“I have also left my home behind,” Damian says softly. Peter looks at the kid again. He looks small. 

“It’s hard,” Peter admits. “It will take an adjustment period, but Jason helped me. We can both help you… If you’re willing to work with us.” 

“I will consider it,” Damian lays down and tucks himself into the sleeping bag. 

Chapter Text

Tim

“What happened?”  Tim asks as soon as he sees Peter enter the classroom. Peter drops into the chair next to him and lets out a long sigh.

“We’ve picked up another stray,” Peter explains as he digs through his backpack for the supplies he needs. 

“The assassin girl Cassandra?” 

“Cassandra? Is that her name?”

“Yeah, Bruce knew about her. He told me and Dick. He says she can’t speak yet but she is learning sign language if you need a way to communicate with her,” Tim yanks the bag away from Peter and takes the correct folder and a couple of pencils out. Peter sticks his tongue out at him. 

“So if it’s not Cassandra then who is it?” 

“Um… You promise not to freak out?” 

“I’m running on pure caffeine and like a half hour of sleep so I can’t make any promises,” Tim shrugs. 

“Right well… It’s a kid. Like an actual little kid. He can’t be more than eight or something. He came from the league to find Jason.” 

“Are they coming after Jason? Should we be worried?” 

“I don’t think so… Look it’s kinda, well maybe better if we don’t talk about it at school. Can you come out on patrol with me?” 

“Maybe. Bruce has monitor duty today. He isn’t supposed to be back until tomorrow morning. There’s an alarm on the case with my suit though.” 

“You’re sure Bruce isn’t going to be there?” 

“As sure as I can ever be when it comes to him,” Tim shrugs. 

“I’ll come over then. Maybe we can find a way around the alarm?” Peter suggests. Tim does consider it. It would be fun to be able to just get one over on Bruce. Actually just getting Peter into the Batcave without Bruce knowing would be hilarious. Even if Dick and Jason would scold them for taking risks. 

“Let’s do it,” Tim says with a grin. Peter grins back and bumps their shoulders together before they turn to pretend to pay attention to the teacher. In reality, they pass a notebook back and forth adding notes on their current list of experiments. 

With their plans of getting into the Batcave set into action Tim’s a little too excited to focus on his classes at all that day. Instead, he thinks about the protections the cave has and how to circumvent them. Honestly, he’s thinking that they might be able to use Peter’s relationship with Dick to their advantage. In actuality, Karen is probably advanced enough to get through it all on her own but that would of course take all the fun out of it. 

By the end of the day, Tim has a plan that he’s almost completely sure will work to get Peter into the Batcave without alerting Bruce and he has no idea what any of his classes were being taught. But that is a problem for future Tim and current Tim thanks him for his sacrifice. They have separate classes at the end of the day so Tim hurries through the hallways to meet Peter at his locker. 

“Peter!” Tim says as he skids to a stop beside the other teen. Peter’s got his headphones on and is trying to fit his textbook into the locker that he’s somehow already got completely stuffed full. 

“Tim!” Peter says with a grin. Tim takes the textbook out of his hand and turns to his own locker to stuff it inside. He’d had to bribe his previous locker neighbor with the promise of doing his homework to get him to trade but so far Peter hadn’t left any sweaty gym socks in the locker so it was clearly well worth it. 

“We’re still hanging out right?” Tim asks as he closes up his locker. 

“Of course, I told Jay I was hanging with you after school so he wouldn’t come looking for me. If he asks though we did go to your house, not the Wayne’s. I’d like to avoid the lecture,” Peter closes his locker as well. Tim laughs at that as he heads out to the pickup line. Peter bumps their shoulders together as he follows. 

“He totally gets that from Bruce by the way. God B’s lectures are enough to even put me to sleep.” 

“I want to see them get into a lecture battle. The first one to make the other cry wins.” Peter holds the door open for Tim as they walk out. 

“It would totally be Bruce,” Tim says, skipping steps on the way down to the pickup line. “He’s getting soft in his old age and I think Jay even talking to him would make him cry.” 

“Can we just lock them in a room together? Cause like don't get me wrong I love the Opera house but I’d love to have more of Alfred’s cooking fresh instead of Dick bringing it out to us. I’d like to come to those dinners at the manor he keeps inviting us to.” 

“If we get the kitchen working Alfred would probably just show up and cook for you there.” 

“The stove in there is a total goner. We’ll have to find a new one. I haven’t seen any dumps around here to find one.”

“Why don’t I buy one?” Tim offers. “You think a junkyard in Gotham wouldn’t turn into a toxic waste dump full of supervillains?” 

“We don’t need to buy one. You can’t just buy everything Timothy,” Peter scolds him. 

“My black card says differently,” Tim reminds him. He spots Alfred’s car and grabs hold of Peter’s jacket sleeve to pull him towards it. 

“How do you tell the cars apart?” Peter asks. “They literally all just look like black town cars. Can’t someone at least be original? How about a nice blue?” Tim ignores his rambling and opens the back door to shove him into the car. Peter goes willingly and slides across the seat. 

“Hi, Mister Pennyworth!” Peter says cheerfully. Tim gets into the car and pulls the door shut. 

“Good afternoon young masters,” Alfred says, glancing at them in the rearview mirror.

“Hey Alfie,” Tim drops his backpack onto the floor and loosens up his tie before slumping down in the seat. “Peter’s coming over today, sorry if I forgot to tell you.”

“Quite alright,” Alfred says, he pulls the car out of the line and starts the drive back to the manor. “You are welcome at the manor whenever you wish Master Peter.” 

“Thank you Mister Pennyworth,” Peter says. 

“Just Alfred is quite alright sir,” Alfred reminds him. 

“My Aunt May would have my head if I was impolite sir,” Peter replies. Tim snickers as he pulls his phone out and scrolls through the Titan’s group chat. Now that they know that Jason isn’t a threat he really needs to get back out to the tower soon. Maybe plan a team training session or something. He could bring Peter with him. It’d be interesting to see how they handle Peter’s fighting style. Tim’s been analyzing the videos he has of Peter fighting. A lot of it seems to be just his instincts but there’s definitely training, different fighting styles. Sometimes boxing, sometimes he moves like an assassin. 

“Hey, who trained you?” Tim asks.

“Me?” Peter looks over at him. 

“Yeah you,” Tim rolls his eyes, 

“Oh well… I mean at first I didn’t have any training. I did gymnastics and ballet as a kid at the community center in our neighborhood. I wasn’t very good at either what with being half blind and the asthma. I guess I still had the memories of it though because when I got my powers and it changed me I could still do it all. That and my spider sense got me by in the beginning.” 

“What about now? You’ve definitely trained. I feel like I’ve seen at least three or four different fighting styles in your movements.” 

“Have you been studying me?” 

“It’s kind of my thing,” Tim sends a few memes to the group chat then puts his phone away and focuses fully on Peter. 

“Mister Stark said that I should learn to fight properly,” Peter admits. “He set up a whole training schedule for me. Mostly with him and Happy, but Uncle Rhodey would come and teach me too when he could. They weren’t supposed to really be in town since they were on the run but the Rogue Avengers would sometimes hide out in New York when they needed Tony’s help or a mission brought them around. Aunt Natasha, she was the Black Widow and used to be like the best assassin in the world, she said that her fighting style was more fitting for me since I was small like her. Plus Spiders have to stick together. Of course, when she started training me then Uncle Clint, he was Hawkeye, he insisted that he get to train me too so sometimes I’d go out to his farm and train with him. Oh, and I don't think Mister Wilson ever forgave me for beating him and Mister Barnes so he kept challenging me to rematches but I think it was just an excuse to train me against aerial attacks after my whole mess with the Vulture.” 

“Do you just automatically make everyone you meet like you? Is that one of your powers?” Tim asks. Peter laughs at that but there’s a glint of something a little more in his eyes. Tim is pretty sure that Peter knows exactly how charming he can be. Dick certainly does. 

“I think they all just liked how much it annoyed Mister Stark when I gave up time with him to hang out with them,” Peter moves his headphones around his neck. “He was still beefing with them so sometimes they would just do it to get him to talk to them.” 

The car pulls to a stop outside the front of the manor and Alfred is opening Peter’s door for him before he can grab his backpack off the floor. Tim snickers to himself as he gets out of the car. 

“It’s not going to work Peter,” Tim tells the other teen. “Alfred is a professional. Dick says that he and Jason both tried to get Alfred to relax and let them do stuff for themselves.” 

“Both Master Jason and Master Dick were unaccustomed to the way life is here at the manor. They adjusted in time. As will you Master Peter.” 

“Was that a threat?” Peter whispers to Tim. 

“Definitely,” Tim grabs Peter’s arm and pulls him towards the front door. “We’ll be in the family room!” 

“I shall bring you some refreshments shortly,” comes Alfred’s reply. Peter stumbles a bit as Tim drags him up the front steps but he rights himself before he can fall. 

“What are we doing in the family room?” Peter asks. 

“Well the story is that we’re working on a school project,” Tim tosses his backpack onto a couch. “I’m going to run up to my room and change out of this shitty uniform. Do you want a change of clothes? You can borrow something from me or Dick. Hell, even Jason’s pre-death clothes would probably fit you.” 

“Yeah if it’s alright,” Peter puts his backpack down beside Tim’s. 

“Come on,” Tim leads him up the stairs to the family wing. In his bedroom, he finds comfortable clothes for them both and then lets Peter into Dick’s room across the hall so he can change. They’ve changed in the same room all the time at the Opera house but the lighting there is shit so it's not like there’s much to see. But they’re both covered in the kinds of scars to be expected from the lives they lead. They’re both much more self-conscious about them than Jason is with his. Tim’s pretty sure he gets some kind of satisfaction from the looks on people's faces when he shows off his autopsy scar. 

Once he’s changed his clothes he waits out in the hallway for Peter who emerges just a few seconds after with a blue and black hoodie he must have pilfered from Dick’s closet. Peter’s headphones are still around his neck but he doesn’t seem inclined to put them back on. Tim’s pretty sure there must be a reason for that but he figures that Peter will tell him when he’s ready. 

“Okay?” Peter asks, shoving his hands into the front pocket of the hoodie. 

“Please Dick would probably cry seeing you in that. It’s basically Nightwing merch. The guy has no idea what subtle means,” Tim rolls his eyes and heads back to the family room. Peter follows after him. 

“So what’s the plan?” Peter asks. “Also how are we going to do it without Alfred knowing?” 

“Rule number one of the Manor is that Alfred always knows. But he generally won’t stop us as long as we don’t make a mess of the Manor or his kitchen or put ourselves in mortal danger,” Tim hops up onto the banister and slides down it. He bypasses the family room completely and goes down the hall to Bruce’s office instead.

“Should we be in here?” Peter asks as he glances into the room.

“Step one to getting into the cave,” Tim explains. He steps up to the old clock and turns it to the correct time. Peter lets out a gasp when it clicks and slides open. 

“Oh my god secret passage!” Peter says coming fully into the room to look at it more closely. There’s another door built into the wall behind the clock. This one is metal with a keypad and a hand scanner. The circle above that is a retinal scanner. “Holy security system, b-man” 

“What did you just say?” Tim asks, giving him a wide-eyed look. 

“Holy Security system, b-man? It's a meme, people say it all the time in my world. like Holy blank, b-man.” 

“Dick used to say that stuff all the time. Holy whatever, Batman. It was like his catchphrase,” Tim takes out his phone and plugs a chord into it. “Okay, so here’s the thing. I can open the door obviously. It’ll tell B that I went down there but he hasn’t forbidden me from doing that. The problem is that it’s going to scan whoever passes through with me as well. So I’m hoping that I can trick the scanner into reading you as Dick.” 

“You think that will work?” Peter sits in the office chair, his eyes scanning over the framed photos Bruce keeps on his desk. 

“I mean if I’m not positive we can always let Karen handle it for us but I thought the challenge would be kind of fun and it will point out the flaws in the system so that we can make it better,” Tim says. He pops open the panel on the door and plugs his phone into it. It takes a couple of minutes but he’s pretty sure that he’s got it right. 

“What happens if it doesn’t work?” Peter asks. He’s taken out his own phone and he snaps a picture of one of the frames. 

“Security doors will drop and trap you til B comes back, that is if Karen can’t stop it first. If you send that to Jay he’ll know where you are.” 

“I’m gonna show him when we get home. As long as I’m not trapped of course.” 

“What’s life without a little threat of capture,” Tim unplugs the phone and puts the door back together then takes a few steps away. “Well, time to try it out?” 

“No time like the present,” Peter hops back to his feet and comes to stand beside TIm. 

“It’ll totally work,” Tim says. “I’ve changed the programming so it’ll only scan for certain markers. If my memory from Biology is right it should only spot the parts of you that are Grayson.” 

“Oh I believe you,” Peter grins at him.

“I don’t think you do.” 

“You’re the one who’s going to have to explain to Bruce and Jason what happened if I get stuck.” 

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Tim steps forward and enters the pin before placing his hand on the scanner. The retinal scanner comes on next and scans his eye before the door swings open for him. “After you,” He says, stepping aside to let Peter by. Peter shoots him a look but goes through the door anyway. 

“ Access granted, Nightwing ,” The mechanical voice announces. 

“It worked!” Tim says cheerfully as he heads into the tunnel as well.” 

“ Access granted, Robin ,” comes the announcement. 

“If this goes wrong I'm telling Jay it was your fault,” Peter tells him. 

“It wouldn’t be the first time he tried to kill me,” Tim shrugs and heads down the stairs. 

“No one is killing anyone,” Peter says far too cheerfully as he follows Tim down to the Batcave.

Chapter Text

Peter

Somehow in all their talk about a Batcave, the last thing Peter expected to find was an actual cave with stalagmites and stalactites and a thousand tiny heartbeats near the ceiling that Peter is pretty sure are bats. 

“There are bats in the Batcave,” Peter says, turning slowly to take in the whole room. While the cave is surprising it’s also pretty technologically advanced. There are platforms built into the cave and a plethora of different kinds of vigilante tools. There’s everything from the plane that he and Jason had borrowed to multiple motorcycles in different colors. There were even hand gliders! Peter moves quickly around the cave, hoping between the platforms to get a closer look at everything. 

Spread out throughout the cave is also what appear to be souvenirs from past villains. A T-rex, a giant penny, what he’s pretty sure is an attempt at a deathray of some sort. Peter wants to touch everything and since Tim hasn’t said anything to call him back Peter figures it must be fine so he does. He finds an entire closet full of different colored Batsuits for some reason and back down on the main platform there are display cases full of different suits. One suit is missing so Peter assumes that’s the one that Bruce must be wearing wherever he currently is. There are Robin costumes with tiny little green shorts that get progressively bigger case by case and then suddenly get smaller again. Peter comes to a halt in front of the second one of this set. It’s torn and bloodied, and the mask cracked completely in half. ‘A Good Soldier’ a plaque at the bottom reads. 

“What the hell,” Peter says. Tim had been seated at the giant computer on the main level. He spins the chair around now to see what Peter is looking at and freezes. 

“Oh,” Tim says quietly. “That’s… Bruce is bad at emotions.” 

“He’s going to flip his shit,” Peter says. “If we’re going to get Jay to come home then this cannot be here.” 

“I know but… not even Alfred’s been able to convince Bruce to take it down,” Tim admits. Peter kneels in front of the display case and examines the security on it. 

“So we’ll have to do it for him,” Peter says with a shrug. “If Jay finds out about this I’m not sure even I can hold him back during his pit rage and I once got the Hulk to laugh so hard that he turned back into Banner.” 

“I don’t know what that means, but you’re probably right.”

“Of course I’m right,” Peter says. “Do you have a screwdriver?” 

“Sure,” Tim grabs one off a nearby table littered with half-constructed equipment and brings it over to Peter. Peter takes it and removes the plaque from the case. It’s not perfect but it’s a step in the right direction. 

“What is this even supposed to mean?” Peter asks as he crumples it into his hand like a paper ball. 

“Sometimes I forget you’re freakishly strong,” Tim says as he takes the ball from Peter and looks it over. “I think it was Bruce’s attempt at compartmentalizing Jason’s death.” 

“That’s some grade-A BS. The strength thing is on purpose, I want people to forget. It means they see how small I am and underestimate me. Besides if people knew what I could do then they might be scared of me. Spider-man is supposed to be friendly. Sure back home some of them have seen me do impossible things like stop cars from crashing and once I stopped a train. But they don’t see my everyday strength, you know?” 

“Yeah, I get that. I guess I never really thought about it. Clark and Kon have insane strength too. I can’t imagine the kind of restraint it takes to hold back like you guys have to,” Tim tosses the metal ball into a trash can.

“You get used to it after a while. Just an everyday thing for me now,” Peter shrugs as he stands up straight and brushes his hands off on his pants. “So did you ever wear the scaly panties like Dick and Jason?” 

“Oh god no, well only the first time. It didn’t go great the first time I went out. B and Dick were going against Two-face. I snagged the suit and had Alfred drive me there. After that Bruce made me a new suit,” Tim moves down two cases and points at one, “This was my first official Robin suit. Long pants and more reinforcements.” 

“It’s so much better than what I first went out with,” Peter says, “It was basically a sweat suit and a ski mask with swim goggles.” 

“Why swim goggles?” 

“The spider bite turned my senses up to like eleven. It’s a constant influx of information and it can overwhelm me. The suit I have now does most of the work for me,” Peter continues to move down the line. There are two more Robin suits for Tim, including his current one. Beside that is a suit Peter doesn’t recognize, it’s all purple with black accents and a long purple cloak. The case besides it has a Robin suit designed for a girl. 

“That’s Spoiler,” Tim says, placing a hand on the glass of the purple suit. “She became the fourth Robin. But… She’s gone now.” 

“You were close?” Peter asks. Tim laughs at that, it sounds a bit rough. 

“She was my girlfriend, for a while at least. But Bruce’s rules are strict and I couldn’t tell her who I really was. It caused problems. We broke up but she is, was my best friend.” 

“Just because she isn’t here anymore doesn’t mean she stops being your best friend,” Peter tells him. He thinks of Ned and MJ waiting back at home for him. No, not waiting for him. Ned and MJ don’t remember him anymore. But Ned is still his best friend and MJ is still his girlfriend. 

“I know. I just kind of wish there could be another miracle but that’s probably asking for too much,” Tim moves away from the Spoiler case and waves at the few remaining cases. There are a couple of different Nightwing suits encased and then more girl’s costumes. “There’s Nightwing’s first few suits. Discowing is a nightmare that should never have existed but Dick throws a fit if we talk about taking it out of the case.” 

“Why is the zipper so low?” Peter asks as he takes in the sparkly monstrosity. 

“I don’t know!” Tim says with a laugh. “It zips all the way up! Dick just showed off his chest whenever he wore it!” 

“What about those girls' suits?” Peter asks. 

“Batgirl,” Tim says. “They belonged to Barbara before she became Oracle.” 

“Wait, why is there a Batgirl and not a Batboy? Where did Robin come from?” 

“Dick, Robin is completely Dick’s thing. Robin was what his parents used to call him. The colors are what his family wore when they were performing at the circus.” 

“Huh,” Peter says. He goes back to the first Robin costume and looks at it more closely. It really is more like a leotard than anything. Peter wonders what it would be like. To swing from a trapeze, would it be like swinging from his webs? Peter wonders if Dick would take him if he asked. “Should we figure out the security?” Peter turns to look at Tim who has his phone out again and held up in a way that shows he was clearly taking a picture. 

“Oops?” Tim says, pocketing his phone.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a secret?” 

“You literally took a picture yourself and said you were going to send it to Jason so obviously I’m going to save this for later. Please? It’ll make Dick cry and I might need a good distraction one day! Oh! Let’s get you into the costume! That would be the perfect distraction! Please, Peter! I’ll never ask for anything ever again!” 

“Yes you will,” Peter says with an eye roll. “It’s not like it would fit me anyway.” 

“Dick wore the suit until he was a teenager. One of them is bound to fit you and he upgraded the panties to shorts. I mean they’re still short short obviously but it’s better than the panties,” Tim points at one of the later Robin suits. 

“I’ll wear yours,” Peter offers. “At least yours has pants.” 

“Fine but we’re squeezing you into the more brightly colored one. It’ll be a little smaller but the material was pretty stretchy.” 

“Before we do any of that we have to bypass the case security,” Peter reminds him. Tim shrugs and moves back to the giant computer. 

“That shouldn’t be hard really,” Tim admits as he sits down and crosses his legs. Peter follows him over and hangs on the back of the rather dramatic looking chair. Peter’s pretty sure this whole family would have gone into acting if they didn’t spend their nights dressed up and fighting bad guys. Tim pulls up the programming of the uniform cases security systems and gets to work. Peter watches him and adds a few suggestions every now and then but he’s pretty sure computers are more Tim’s things than his. Instead, he looks around the desk, checking drawers until he finds a bag of smaller rubber bands. With the bag in hand, he climbs up onto the back of Tim’s chair, impressed that it doesn’t unbalance. He perches on the back of it and uses the rubber bands to pull Tim’s hair into a bunch of tiny ponytails. 

“What exactly is happening here?” A window pops up in the corner of the computer screen showing Barbara sitting in what appears to be some other kind of secret base like the Batcave. She looks incredibly amused as she looks at the two of them. 

“Being bad,” Tim says dismissively. 

“Playing hair salon,” Peter chirps. 

“I’m adding this to the blackmail file. And also sending it to Dick,” Barbara tells them. 

“Can you do it later? When they won’t be able to get back to the cave fast enough to stop us?” Tim asks. 

“B is on the watchtower, Timmy,” Barbara reminds them. “He’s one Zeta trip away from catching you guys doing whatever you’re doing.” 

“Hair salon,” Peter says again. 

“His monitor duty isn’t set to end until five am. That’s plenty of time for me and Peter to do whatever the hell we want. Plus we rigged it so it’ll show that it’s me and Dick down here.” 

“Uh huh,” Barbara says. “And where exactly is Dick right now?” 

“Off world on a mission with the Titans,” Tim says, he’s focused back on the programming. 

“Uh huh,” Barbara says again. 

“Didn’t… Didn’t you say that the watchtower was off world?” Peter asks.

“Yeah, a satellite in space, orbiting Earth,” Tim shrugs one shoulder. Peter meets Barbara’s gaze through the computer screen. She looks entirely too amused about this whole thing. Peter can already hear the lecture from Jason forming. 

“So… The Titan’s mission wouldn’t happen to bring them to the watchtower would it?” 

“I don’t know, maybe.” 

“So you didn’t think that maybe Bruce wouldn’t find it a little suspicious that Nightwing is both on the watchtower and in the Batcave at the same time?” Tim freezes up at that and then tilts his head back to look up at Peter his eyes wide. 

“Oh shit,” Tim says. 

“When was the last time you slept? Damn it.” 

“ Access granted Batman, access granted Nightwing,” The mechanical voice from before speaks again as there’s a whirring noise from a tube looking thing on the far side of the room.

“Oh shit,” Tim says again. Peter quickly pulls his hood up onto his head and his nanobots reform into a mask that covers his face. He flips backward off the chair at the same time that Tim jumps to his feet and a figure cloaked in black steps out of the tube moving towards them. Peter is so doomed. Jason is absolutely never going to let him live this down. 

Chapter Text

Bruce

Bruce steps out of the zeta tube just in time to see a teenager who is decidedly not one of his sons flips backward off the Batcomputer’s chair. Tim jumps to his feet and puts himself between Bruce and the boy. He’s got a serious look on his face but it’s hard to take him seriously with the way that his hair is stuck up wildly with rubber bands. The other teen seems to have had enough time to pull up the hood of his sweater that Bruce is pretty sure used to belong to Dick and there’s a weird red mask covering his whole face. 

“I can explain!” Tim says, holding up his hands. The teen is most likely Peter. The boy has managed to keep his face entirely hidden from Bruce so far which only tells him that there’s something memorable about him.

“Timothy,” Dick scolds as he walks out of the zeta tube and over to the two boys. “What the hell were you thinking?” 

“How did you do it?” Bruce asks. Tim keeps his mouth shut but Bruce can see that glint in his eyes. Tim knows he’s done something brilliant and he wants to be able to brag about it. 

“Don’t crack,” Dick hisses at his brother before making his way to the other kid and cupping his masked face in his hands. “Petey, Hood is going to murder us both for this.” The teen leans into Dick’s touch.

“He likes me, my survivability rate is much higher,” The boy says. 

“Someone start talking,” Bruce snaps at them. His sons cringe at his tone of voice but the unknown teen just tilts his head to the side to get a better look at him from the other side of Dick. 

“It’s My-” 

“It is absolutely not his fault,” Tim says. “There is no point in keeping Peter out. Jason’s already told him everything and it’s only a matter of time before you give him an invite to the cave anyway!” 

“How did you trick the system into thinking he was Dick then?” Bruce heads over to one of the tables and removes his gloves. 

“He’s such a smarty!” Dick says “Probably the smartest of all us Robin’s. Real technologically inclined. He must get that from you, Bruce!”

“Dick,” Bruce scolds. He removes his cowl and turns to look at the three boys. Maybe he’ll finally be able to get them to spill whatever it is they’ve been hiding about the new teen vigilante. Dick pulls Tim closer and leans down to whisper with him while keeping one hand on Peter’s shoulder. Bruce meets the teen's eyes through his mask and raises an eyebrow. 

“Are you mad at Tim?” He asks. 

“No I’m not mad,” Bruce admits with a sigh. He wishes it wasn’t always so much of a battle to get them to talk to him, but really it’s his own fault. He should have done better. The boy nods his head once and then his mask is opening up and his face is revealed to Bruce for the first time. 

“I’m Peter,” he says as a playful grin that Bruce is all too familiar with spreads across his face. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Grandpa.” He pushes his hood off. 

Chapter Text

Tim

Bruce.exe has stopped working. Tim chokes on his laughter as he brings a hand up to cover his mouth. Bruce’s jaw has actually dropped open and he’s staring at Peter with wide eyes. This might be the greatest day of Tim’s life. You know, besides when Bruce accepted him as Robin. 

“I tricked the system into narrowing down its field so that it only noted the parts of Peter that he got from Dick!” Tim blurts out all at once. That seems to be enough to snap Bruce out of it. His eyes sharpen and he scans over all of Peter’s features before darting to Dick’s. Dick removes his mask to help. 

“He’s too old to be Dick’s,” Bruce settles on. “Is this a time travel situation?” 

“Multiversal travel,” Peter answers. “Sorry, not actually your grandkid. But like pretty close? My father and Dick are different versions of the same person.” 

“Is Peter a family name?” Bruce asks. Jason, Tim realizes. Bruce wants to know if Jason and Dick are brothers in Peter’s world. Tim hadn’t really taken the time to think about it. The Richard of Peter’s world had been adopted by the Parker’s and not the Wayne’s so it made sense that Jason wouldn’t be related. But was it just a coincidence that they chose the name Peter for him?

“My only legal uncle was named Ben,” Peter says. “But before my dad was adopted by the Parker’s he spent some time in foster care. There was a boy at his first foster home that helped him out. That’s where my name comes from… But my uncle didn’t really know any more than that.” 

“Your uncle?” Bruce asks. Tim wonders if they should stop Peter. What the hell is Bruce going to do if he finds out that alternate universe Dick is dead?

“My parents passed,” Peter’s voice is a bit quieter now. “When I was four. My Aunt May and Uncle Ben raised me.” Bruce turns away from them and disappears into the changing rooms without a word. 

“Shit,” Dick says, rubbing a hand over his face. “We gotta tell Jason.” 

“Why do we have to tell Jason?” Tim asks.

“You think Bruce is going to be normal about this?” Dick asks. 

“Bruce is never normal about anything!” 

“Boys don’t argue,” Bruce says, returning from the changing room in record time. Tim eyes him warily but Bruce’s focus is completely on Peter as he crosses the cave to rejoin them. Peter blinks at him. Bruce grabs Peter's shoulders and pulls him into a surprisingly solid hug. 

“Oh,” Peter says, his eyes wide. He’s stiff for a second but then he melts into the hug loosely holding onto Bruce’s shirt. Dick grins at them.

“Isn’t he adorable?” Dick asks. Bruce lets out one of his unintelligible grunts and cards a hand through Peter’s hair. 

“I’ve never had a Grandpa before,” Peter admits. 

“Bruce has never been a Grandpa before,” Tim says. “I’m sure you guys will figure it out.” 

“You can’t keep him B,” Dick says, rescuing Peter from Bruce’s hold and tucking Peter in close. “He’s mine. I even got the legal documents to prove it.” 

“I’ll have Alfred prepare a room for him,” Bruce says. 

“Oh no, that’s um…” Peter glances at Dick and then looks back at Bruce. “I have a place already. Thank you for the offer but I like where I’m staying.” 

“Where are you staying?” Bruce asks. 

“With a friend,” Peter says. 

“Red Hood?” Bruce asks. 

“You’re smart,” Peter grins, and then his gaze darts up to the ceiling. “Do the bats usually make that much noise?” 

“Getting late, they’re waking up,” Bruce explains. “Does it bother you?” 

“I’m just not used to it I guess, I’ve never been this close to bats before.” 

“What are you talking about little Spider?” Dick asks with laughter in his voice “You’re with us bats all the time!” 

“Bruce, you cannot get the bats out of the cave just because they weird Peter out. He’s got super hearing. New sounds probably take a second to get used to,” Tim scolds. Peter and Dick both turn their gaze back to Bruce. The older man is looking up towards the ceiling with a frown on his face. 

“You never offered to get rid of the bats for me!” Dick says, offended. 

“You didn’t have super hearing,” Bruce says looking back at his son and grandson with something soft in his eyes. Tim’s pretty positive he’s getting soft in his older age. 

“You’re going to be insufferable,” Dick says. He rests his chin on top of Peter’s head still hugging him a bit possessively. Tim’s pretty sure those two are about to start an all out war for Peter’s affection, he’s also pretty sure they’re both idiots because Peter is perfectly happy living in an abandoned Opera house being picked on by Jason and clearly doesn't need grand gestures. 

“Ah good you’re all home,” Alfred says from the top of the stairs. “Dinner will be served shortly in the dining room. Do remember to wash up ahead of time.” With that Alfred turns and heads back into the manor. 

“Guess you’re staying for dinner,” Tim says with a shrug. “You have your suit, right? We can go out after we eat.” 

“Is your homework done?” Dick asks them. Peter and Tim share a look. 

“Of course, it is Dickhead,” Tim grabs Peter’s arm and pulls him free from Dick’s hold and heads for the stairs with him. “Jerks ruining all of our plans.”

“I think we might have kind of ruined our own plans, Timmy,” Peter says.

“Yeah well if they didn’t have so many freaking restrictions we wouldn’t have to sneak around,” Tim grumbles.

“The mature almost adult part of my brain says that they probably have those restrictions for a purpose but also when Mister Stark gave me my first suit he put a ‘baby monitor’ protocol in it so I couldn’t access all his features until I completed some training he’d planned for me and Me and Ned hacked into it so I could catch these bad guys that were selling alien weapons.” 

“Did you catch them?” Tim holds the door open for him and waits until Peter crosses into the office to close it. 

“Um… I mean I took down the boss in the end but the whole tracking them part didn’t go too well. I’m a fighter, not a detective you know?” 

“There’s no reason you can’t be both,” Tim leads him to the kitchen so they can both wash their hands. “We can teach you if you want.” 

“I’m not sure I’ll be good at it,” Peter shrugs. “I went on a stakeout with Jason the other night and it was sooo boring!” 

“Peter, you're a scientist. Just look at the detective stuff the way you would an experiment and I’m sure you’d be able to get it. Dick’s uncle-in-law is a CSI. I bet you could use your new grandnephew's privileges to go to work with him.” 

“Dick’s married?” Peter steps up to the sink and washes his hand. Tim leans against the counter next to him. 

“No not technically but he and Wally have been together longer than they even knew they were together so it’s basically a confirmed thing you know? You bat those big brown eyes at Wally and I bet he’d speed you off to Central City to bring your kid to work day before you could even blink. It would also definitely piss off Bruce so ya know you could save it for when he eventually gets on your nerves.” 

“Wally was that fast guy that was at the clean up wasn’t he?” 

“Yeah he’s the Flash, well the second Flash. He used to be Kid Flash but once he stopped being a kid the Kid Flash title wasn’t really fitting anymore and Barry was willing to step back a bit and share the title. They move so fast people hardly even notice which one is which,” Tim bumps Peter aside and washes his own hands. 

“So how big exactly is your family?” 

“Not my family, yours now though,” Tim dries his hands with a paper towel and then throws it away. When he turns to look at Peter again he finds him watching him with an incredulous look on his face. “What?” 

“You do know that you’re the only person not calling yourself part of the family right?” Peter asks. Tim rolls his eyes and heads for the dining room. 

“I have enough parents, thank you very much.” 

“Yeah but you need siblings too, and probably uncles. Aunts? Are there Aunts?” 

“Kate maybe? I’m not sure if she counts. She’s Bruce’s cousin but she’s younger than him. Just a couple of years older than Dick. Also Wonder Woman, Diana. She and Clark are the only members of the Justice League that Bruce actually enjoys spending time with. Though Oliver, the Green Arrow, and he have known each other since they were kids.” 

“Timmy, are you just handing out everyone’s identities?” Dick asks. He and Bruce are already seated at the table. Dick’s changed into casual clothes. Tim drops into his usual seat and kicks out the chair next to him for Peter. 

“This family is insane, Peter needs to be prepared!” Tim insists. Bruce surprisingly doesn’t seem to have anything to say about this. Tim narrows his eyes at the billionaire. He’s seen the ‘your grandparents are not the people that raised me’ memes online but he didn’t think it would happen this quickly. It seems that Bruce has fully gone into Grandpa mode. Judging by the look on Dick’s face he’s noticing it too. 

“I mean maybe I should hold off on finding out any more names? Or the connections between the heroes and their real names. It seems impolite to know that stuff when they don’t know about me,” Peter suggests. 

“If you stay in Gotham then there’s no reason for any of the other capes to know anything about Spider-man,” Bruce says. Alfred enters the room then and starts to set plates full of food in front of them.

“Can I help?” Peter asks, perking up a bit. Alfred gives him a gentle smile and pats him on the head as he passes. 

“Not necessary Master Peter. I have it all quite in hand,” Alfred says leaving the room. 

“You’re not going to beat him Petey,” Dick says. 

“I just want to help!” Peter insists. 

“The only person he’s ever let in that kitchen is Jay,” Dick admits.

“Why did Jason get to be special?” Peter asks. Bruce gets the sad sort of look he always gets whenever Jason comes up. It’s been a bit different lately since Jason’s identity was revealed. 

“I’m not sure how much Jay has told you about his childhood,” Bruce admits. 

“He said that he lived on the streets in Crime Alley, that’s why he’s working to make it a better place.” 

“I’m sure you can imagine how much of a difference it was to come from that kind of life to living here at the manor. Alfred found that allowing Jason to help with food prep helped him to feel more secure in his place here.” 

“He’s a good cook,” Peter says. “We don’t really have a working kitchen yet but the stuff he throws together always tastes really good.” 

“You… Don’t have a kitchen?” Bruce asks. Tim drops his head onto the table. 

“Not a full one yet,” Peter says, completely unaware of what he’s just done. Peter glances around the table to make sure that everyone else has started eating before he starts to eat his own food. “There is a kitchen but it doesn’t all work yet. We have a couple of different mini fridges and I’ve almost got the big fridge working. I just need a couple more parts. Tim says there are no junk yards in Gotham though so I was going to wait til bulk pick up and see what I could dig up.” 

“Do you need money?” Bruce asks. “Jason has a trust fund, it will just take a little bit of work to get it released to him and I can get you both cards to my account.” 

“Oh no no we don’t need money,” Peter says cheerfully. “Tim keeps trying to offer but honestly I really like fixing things. It’s kinda my thing. Back at home, I built an entire computer and the first version of my web shooters from stuff I found dumpster diving! Besides, it's not like Jason’s broke.” 

“Oh yeah blood money is very reliable,” Dick says. Peter’s eyes flash with mischief as he looks towards Dick. 

“Plus Dick brings us food at least once a day anyway. We even had a rooftop picnic the other night!” Peter says. Dick tries to subtly scoot his chair away from Bruce.

“Dick has been to your house?” 

“Lots of times,” Peter says cheerfully. Tim holds his breath to keep from laughing at the dark look Bruce is giving Dick. 

“Petey,” Dick says, holding his head in his hand. Peter is absolutely a secret little shit and Tim is here for it. 

Chapter Text

Jason

Jason paces the aisle of the Opera house mumbling curses under his breath with each minute that passes. Peter is at the manor. Those fucking idiot kids had snuck into the Batcave and gotten caught and if Barbara hadn’t texted then he would have had no idea. He can feel the green wanting to rise up. Peter is with Bruce right now. He needs to get them out of there. He needs to bring Peter and Tim back to the Opera house where he can keep them safe. 

“Ahki,” Damian snaps. “Your incessant pacing is interrupting my meditation.” 

“I need to go to the manor, I’ve got to get Peter and Tim,” Jason says, heading for the orchestra pit to stock up on weapons.

“That’s a terrible idea,” Damian says, getting to his feet and following him. 

“You have to come with me, I’m not leaving you here alone.” 

“I will be perfectly fine here on my own.”

“You’re a child you are not old enough to be alone,” Jason jumps down into the pit and tries to decide which of the weapons to bring with him. He wonders if Bruce is close enough to true evil for him to use his blades. 

“I traveled here from Nanda Parbat on my own. I can manage in this hovel just fine.” 

“Still an Opera house,” Jason reminds him. 

“This is a bad idea Ahki. You have more brains than this. Do not let your emotions rule your actions,” Damian’s arms are crossed, and he glares down at Jason with disdain. 

“I can’t just leave them there Dami!” 

“Parker is practically an adult and he mostly seems competent. Besides Drake and Grayson are both there as well are they not?” 

“Yes they are but-”

“You yourself have said that it is too early for me to reveal myself to our father. If he is as great of a detective as you and mother say he is then he will easily discover my parentage.” 

“Yes yes I know,” Jason throws his gun down on the table and runs his hands through his hair. 

“Give me your phone,” Damian demands. Jason takes his phone out of his pocket and tosses it up to Damian then resumes his pacing in the orchestra pit. Damian snatches the phone out of the air. Jason doesn’t really care what the kid does with it but when he hears the familiar sound of a video call ringing he stops his pacing and climbs out of the pit. 

“What are you doing?” Jason asks, trying to take the phone. Damian dodges out of his reach and stands on the back of one of the audience chairs. 

“Jason?” Peter’s voice comes through the speakerphone, “Oh Damian.” 

“Parker, good you answered. Todd is driving me insane with his worrying. Please assure him that you have not been harmed,” Damian tosses the phone back to Jason. 

“Peter?” Jason catches the phone and looks at the screen. Peter has his headphones on and judging by the background it looks like he’s in the sitting room off of the formal dining room. 

“Hey,” Peter says with a guilty smile. “Please don’t be mad. I promise everything is okay!” 

“You’re safe?” 

“Yes, I am. We just finished dinner. After Alfred verifies our homework, Tim and I are gonna go patrol together. Do you want to meet up with us?” 

“Is it just the two of you? I think I might need to take Dami out before he chews through his cage.” 

“Yeah Bruce and Dick skipped out on their duties to come back here and they have to go finish up.” 

“Okay,” Jason sighs. “Okay yeah, we’ll come join you. You tell Timmers what’s up?” 

“Not yet we got interrupted before I could.” 

“Okay, see if you can snag an extra kid sized mask from the cave if you can. And an extra grappling hook. Mine are all set up for my weight; they'll launch the brat into space.” 

“Is it safe to bring him on patrol? I thought you were kinda against the whole child hero thing.” 

“Yeah, it’s not… The kid’s whole life has been violent,” Jason glances to see where Damian has wandered off to and isn’t surprised to see the kid up in the rafters somehow even without grappling. “I think learning how the bats do things might be what he needs. As much as I hate it he’s not going to be able to just jump into being a normal kid and until I can figure something out…” 

“Okay… Well, let's talk about this later when we meet up.” 

“Don’t sign anything that Bruce hands you okay,” Jason says. Peter rolls his eyes. 

“He’s not going to surprise adopt me. Dick has already made it very clear that he’s my legal guardian. Tim has the security footage of Bruce finding out he’s a Grandpa that I’m sure he’d love to share with you,” Peter’s gaze drifts away from the screen. 

“Alright hanging up now. Send me a meeting spot,” Jason hangs up the call and sticks the phone in his pocket. “If you fall from those rafters I’m calling your mom to clean up the mess!” 

“Like I would make such an amateur mistake.” 

“Yeah yeah go put on some of the new clothes I got you. Something dark. We’re meeting up with Peter and Tim,” Jason says. He picks his helmet up off the counter and double checks it to make sure that everything is working properly, he’d taken a hit to the head during his last run in with Black Mask and while it hadn’t left a mark he knew that you could never be too careful. 

“What is wrong with my usual clothes?” Damian asks, dropping down beside him.

“You look like a little assassin brat. If you’re going to live in Gotham you need to learn to dress like a normal kid.”

“I do not see how dressing like a normal child while spending the night on the rooftops with the infamous Red Hood and Robin is a good idea,” Damian says. Jason glares down at him but the kid isn’t wrong. 

“Fine, but starting tomorrow we’re going to start bringing you out into civilization like a normal child. Play in a park, buy a video game or something,” Jason ruffles Damian’s hair and then pushes his head away. “Where’s your scarf? You need to hide your head til we get you a mask from Peter.” Damian shoots a glare at him and then stomps off to go collect the scarf that he’d worn the first night he arrived. Jason puts his helmet on and checks over all his gear one more time before hopping out of the orchestra pit. 

“I am ready now,” Damian declares, reappearing at Jason’s side with the scarf wrapped around his head once again. 

“Great let’s go,” Jason grabs Damian up in one arm and ignores the kids squawking as he grapples them up onto the roof of the Opera house. 

“Unhand me!” Damian yells trying to kick him. 

“Shut up,” Jason tells him. “Someone’s going to think I’m kidnapping you.” He drops Damian and watches him twist around to land on his feet. 

“Tt, Like I would ever allow someone to capture me against my will,” Damian says. 

“You’re still a kid pipsqueak. We’ve been over this, no matter how much training you have you aren’t invincible.” 

“I understand Ahki,” Damian says. He sounds a little petulant but at least he doesn’t fight about it. Jason’s pretty sure the subject of his death was a sensitive subject even when his brain was mush. 

“Great, keep up with me then,” Jason says. He heads across the rooftops, making sure that Damian follows behind him. 

Chapter Text

Peter

As Peter and Tim approach the roof where they agreed to meet Jason, Peter can see that the Red Hood is already waiting for them. Damian beside him, his sword strapped to his back. Peter’s not sure how he feels about the kid with a sword but he’d seemed pretty smart in the time that Peter’s spent with him at least. 

“Wow that is an actual child,” Tim says as they land on the roof beside the other two. Peter couldn’t really think of a way to tell Tim who Damian actually was. Also, he’s pretty sure that the manor is bugged and he gets the feeling that Jason isn’t ready to fully unleash Damian on the family. So Peter had just stuck with the story that the kid was from the league and left it at that. It had been enough to convince Tim to find an old mask and grappling gun in the Batcave to bring along. 

“This is supposed to be Robin?” Damian asks, sounding unimpressed. Tim stares at Damian now that they’re closer. Damian glares back.

“What the fuck,” Tim says. “That is a baby Bruce Wayne. Jason, why is he a baby Bruce Wayne?” 

“You didn’t tell him?” Jason asks. 

“I didn’t know how to tell him, plus I think the manor is bugged. I could hear the electricity from microphones,” Peter shrugs. 

“That is a baby, Bruce,” Tim repeats, bending down to get a better look at Damian beneath his hood. “Oh my god it was Talia wasn’t it? Bruce and Talia boned oh my god that’s so gross.” 

“Ew Robin shut up!” Jason says, aiming a kick at his leg. Tim hops out of the way. 

“Ahki! I can not accept this childish imbecile as Robin! Allow me to battle him for the title,” Damian demands, pointing an accusing finger in Tim’s direction. Tim stops and stares at Damian. 

“Excuse the fuck out of me?” 

“Damian we talked about this,” Jason says with a sigh. 

“I am the grandson of the demon head and the only blood son of the bat. It is mine rightfully and if I must win it in a battle then I shall!” 

“This is going great,” Peter says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

“I’m honestly kind of leaning towards fighting him,” Tim says. 

“Good, then we shall-”

“You shall nothing,” Jason interrupts grabbing Damian by the collar of his shirt to keep him away from Tim. “Do not encourage him.” 

“You know it’s very common in some cultures for people to spar as a form of bonding,” Peter says, crouching down and resting his arms on his legs. 

“Shut the fuck up Spider-brat,” Jason snaps at him. 

“My friend Thor and his brother fight all the time and they seem to do okay when Loki isn’t trying to take over the world,” Peter shrugs.

“That’s not… I’m sorry are those Norse gods? Do you know literal gods?” Jason asks. 

“Aliens actually. Kind of. Actually maybe both? They came to earth and got mistaken as gods but like what makes someone a god right? Do you have to be some omnipresent being to be a god or just like have people worship you?” 

"We're going to circle back to that later," Jason says with a sigh, behind his mask Peter rolls his eyes. 

“Why don’t you just let him get it out of his system?” Tim says. “You’ve got somewhere private we can use right?” 

“Probably?” 

“I’ve got my spider sense. If I think the fight is going too far I’ll web them up," Peter offers

“This is a terrible idea,” Jason says, but he pulls out his phone and makes a call telling someone to clear out a warehouse a few blocks away and to make sure no one enters until he says it's okay. Peter is not exactly sure how he feels about his friend having criminal underlings, or him being a criminal in general, but in this situation, it seems to work out in their favor. 

Peter takes out the mask that he got from one of the old robin stashes and holds it out to Damian along with the glue. He’s not sure how the others can stand the feeling of the glue on their faces. He’d only done it the one time to go into Bludhaven and it had driven him crazy the whole time. Damian snatches both items out of his hands and eyes them critically. 

“Show me what to do,” He demands. 

“I will if you ask nicely,” Tim says, crossing his arms. 

“I did not ask for your help.”

“Okay okay save it for the sparing,” Jason says. He kneels down in front of Damian and shows him how to put the glue on the mask then sticks it on his face. “Let the glue dry before you try fucking with it. Spider you got the grappling too?” 

“Yep I got it,” Peter holds it out to him. Jason takes it and checks it over for a moment. He pauses just briefly when he sees an ‘R2” written on it. 

“This is mine,” Jason says. 

“Tim said that Dick’s were too outdated and that he was bigger than you when he first started… I figured that with how small Damian is it would be smart to go with the one with the lowest weight.” 

“Yeah you’re right,” Jason hands it over to Damian. “You break that and I’ll toss you back to your mom.” 

“Does he know how to?” Tim asks. 

“My skills are none of your concern,” Damian holds the grappling gun in both hands carefully despite the anger in his words. Peter hates to admit it but Damian reminds him a little bit of Eugene. All that posturing and acting superior just to hide his insecurities. Peter has a feeling that there’s hope for Damian yet and the sooner he finds out that he has a lot to learn the easier it will probably be. 

“Why don’t you and Tim go ahead and me and Damian will follow,” Peter suggests. 

“You don’t even know where you’re going,” Jason reminds him. 

“Karen will lead the way and if she doesn’t then I can just listen for your heartbeats,” Peter waves them off. “Go on we got this.” 

“Listen to Peter, Dami,” Jason says sternly, and then he and Tim take off towards the warehouse.

“I don’t need your assistance,” Damian says. 

“That’s good cause I’ve never actually used a grappling gun before. I figure it can’t be too different though so we can probably figure it out together.” 

“You don’t know how? Aren’t you supposed to be some sort of genius?” 

“Aren’t you?” 

“Obviously,” He says. Peter smiles at him even though he knows the kid can’t see it through the mask. 

“Alright well with two geniuses on the case then it should be no problem at all. How are you with physics?” 

“Adequate,” The kid shrugs, he’s still holding Jason’s grappling gun like it’s made of glass. 

“Cool this will work out pretty well then,” Peter drops so he’s sitting and crosses his legs. He leans forward to draw the equations he'd memorized when he started as Spider-man in the dirt and gravel that liters the roof, doing his best to adjust them for a grappling gun instead of web shooters. He knows that Jason and Tim are probably wondering where they are but Karen will keep them informed and Damian seems to actually be interested in the math so Peter thinks it worth it. Once Peter has finished his explanation they both step up onto the edge of the roof. 

“Heights do not frighten me,” Damian says. 

“Me neither. But that first jump can be a little nerve-wracking. A building this tall especially” 

“How did you do it?” 

“Sometimes you just have to have faith in yourself and take the leap.” 

“And if I miss?”

“You won’t, but I’m going to be right behind you.”

“Why are you being nice to me? By your explanation, the title of Robin should belong to you as Richard’s heir.” 

“I’m a little old to be Robin don’t you think? Besides Spider-man, that’s all mine. I created it for myself and I choose what it means.” 

“But you are entitled to your father’s legacy.” 

“Sometimes a legacy can be more of a burden than a reward. Back in my world, I had a mentor named Tony, he was the Iron Man. He’s a great man. One of the greatest in the world and was one of the Avengers, earth's mightiest heroes. People looked up to him and he looked at me and he saw something good so he took me under his wing and he helped me become who I am today.”

“He’s gone?” 

“Yeah, he sacrificed himself to save the world and everyone is waiting and searching for who is next. Who is going to take the place of the great Iron Man… and Tony… Tony wanted it to be me. He left everything to me and I screwed it all up. I failed in the most spectacular way. So badly that the only way to make up for it was for Peter Parker to have never existed at all.” 

“But you do still exist. Obviously, you’re standing right beside me and I am immune to most hallucinogenic drugs.” 

“For my own sanity, I’m not going to ask how you know that.”

“It’s irrelevant. What I mean to say is… Despite the odds of being forced to travel to another world you have remained Peter Parker and I, of course, did my proper research before approaching you and Ahki. I have heard what people say about the Spider-Man. How he helps people and makes them feel safer. A waste of time of course but if that is something that you would feel proud of then… then you should feel proud of it.” 

“You’re not going to let me hug you are you?” Peter asks, blinking the tears away. It really sucks to cry in the mask.

“Absolutely not,” Damian scoffs. “I am ready now.” 

“It’s a leap of faith, Damian, that’s all it takes,” Peter watches him closely. Damian nods his head and holds the grappling gun in one hand then jumps. 

Chapter Text

Peter

“That’s eleven wins for Tim, three for Damian, eight ties, and one disqualification for tomfoolery,” Peter says. He’s lying on the ceiling of the warehouse the same place he’s been most days for the past week in the time between the end of his own patrol and the beginning of Tim’s. 

“We’re done for tonight,” Tim says as he goes over to where he’d left his utility belt and cape. The rules of the sparring matches were simple. No weapons, no gadgets, straight up hand to hand only. No broken bones allowed. Peter had only had to step in once the very first night when Tim’s snark had pissed Damian off so much that he’d snapped and pulled a dagger. 

“One more!” Damian insists. Peter’s pretty sure that the sparring matches are now less about Damian taking the Robin title and more as a way for Damian to get some of his energy out. As far as Peter knows he’s just been stuck at the Opera house all day while Peter’s at school and Jason is sleeping. 

“Actually we have something to do tonight Dami,” Peter says as he flips down from the ceiling and lands on his feet. 

“What?” Damian asks with suspicion. Despite the fact that they’ve been getting along pretty well recently Damian’s prickly attitude hasn’t really gone anywhere. Peter’s pretty good at dealing with it though and Jason seems to just tune out most of the rude things he says. But it’s been an entire week without a single mention of wanting to kill Dick or Tim and the Opera house really isn’t a place for a kid as young as Damian to thrive. 

“We’re meeting Nightwing,” Peter says. 

“Why?” 

“Well… Jason thought it better if Dick was the one to introduce you to Bruce. You know, since they’re still fighting and all.” 

“You’re sending me away?” 

“This isn’t about sending you away Dami,” Peter says crouching down to Damian’s height. “The plan from the beginning was for you to meet your dad, wasn't it?”

“Well yes but… You did not inform me of this ahead of time!” Damian clenches his fists and stops his foot as he yells. Peter glances over at Tim to find the other teen watching them, one eyebrow raised. Other than their sparring matches he hasn’t been around as much lately, while things were going well with Damian they weren’t sure it was a good idea to tempt him with a sleeping Tim. It's probably a shock to see Damian on the verge of a pretty normal little kid tantrum.

“I’m sorry Dami, I thought that Jason was going to talk with you about this today while I was at school. How about this, we can go and meet Dick, and maybe get him to buy us some Batburger. You don’t have to meet Bruce tonight if you don’t want to. We’ll see how you feel about it after we eat.” 

“And it’s my choice?” 

“Yes. I promise if you think Dick is a dick then we can go back to the Opera house and you and Jason can talk shit about him. We can probably even sneak a couple of sodas from Tim’s mini-fridge.” 

“Fine, then I will consent to this meeting with Grayson,” Damian goes over to his pile of weapons and starts to hide them back in his clothes. 

“Do you think it will go well?” Tim asks, coming to stand beside Peter. Peter stands up straight and shrugs his shoulders. 

“Jason thinks Dick being the one to introduce them will make it the smoothest transition.” 

“Yeah probably, Bruce is still going to be paranoid. And emotional. Actually, you might be the better choice if we want a less angry emotional response from Bruce. He hasn’t adjusted to being a grandfather yet.” 

“You think so?” 

“Obviously, you know I’m right,” Tim puts his cape back on and straightens it out. 

“What are you guys working on tonight?” Peter pulls his mask out of his pocket and pulls it on over his head. 

“Two-face’s men are doing something shifty down by the docks. We’re going to check it out tonight.” 

“I’ll have Karen keep an ear out in case you need backup. Hey, Two-face is Harvey Dent right?” 

“Yeah, why?” 

“I was reading old gossip magazines while I was helping Barbara at the library the other day and apparently there was a rumor that Brucie Wayne and Harvey Dent were dating.” 

“Are you asking me to confirm decade old dating rumors?” 

“You blackmailed Batman into letting you be Robin. Are you telling me you didn’t investigate his dating history when you were stalking him?” 

“Information is going to cost you.” 

“I caught Jason doing one of those green goopy face masks in the bathroom in the middle of the night and I have a picture of it.” 

“From what I can find Harvey and Bruce had a relationship when they attended Gotham Prep together and possibly hooked up at several galas after Bruce’s return but the sources are sketchy at best so I don’t know if you can believe them.” 

“I love your beautiful stalkery brain Timmy,” Peter grabs Tim’s cheeks and pulls him forward to press a kiss to his forehead. 

“You’re literally wearing your mask!” Tim complains. 

“Which means you can’t complain about the kiss,” Peter lets go of the other teen. “Now go before you’re late for your patrol. Me and Dami gotta go find Dick.” 

“You better send me that picture!” Tim shouts before jumping out one of the windows. 

“You two are children,” Damian complains.

“Yes, we’re both under the age of eighteen so that technically makes us children. Trust me, stop trying to grow up so fast. It’s not worth it.” 

“We shall agree to disagree,” Damian heads to the window and climbs out onto the fire escape. Peter tries not to laugh as he follows him out. 

“Do you want to grapple or ride along?” Peter asks. 

“Are we on a time constraint?” 

“We are supposed to meet Nightwing in like twenty minutes,” Peter says. He and Damian have both been practicing with grappling hooks each night. They’re both getting faster but Peter is much faster still with his webs. 

“Ride along I suppose, only because tardiness is unacceptably rude,” Damian says begrudgingly. Peter nods and then kneels down allowing Damian to climb onto his back. Once he’s sure the kid is secure he jumps from the fire escape and swings to the building Dick had said he’d meet him on. 

“Alright, you hang back there for a minute once I land okay?” 

“Are we sure another surprise is the wisest idea? You clearly saw how well that worked out with Drake.” 

“Are you going to threaten to kill this one?” 

“No, I suppose not.” 

“Then I’m sure that it’ll go much better than the meeting with Tim,” Peter lands on the roof in front of Dick and stands up straight. “Hi, Nightwing!” 

“Hello, little Spider. Whatcha got there?” Dick asks. 

“Sooo what do you know about the League of Assassins?” Peter asks turning slightly as Dick attempts to look at Damian on his back. Damian was quick to get the scarf back over his head once Peter landed and he’s keeping his face ducked low. 

“Far more than I ever want to. Why?” 

“Right so you know they're kinda a little bit shitty?” Damian’s nails dig into Peter’s suit. 

“Petey,” Dick says, crossing his arms. “What’s going on?” 

“Okay so,” Peter kneels down letting Damian off his back, and moves the kid in front of him. “This is Damian, he’s your brother.” 

“I… He’s what?” Dick stares down at Damian. Peter can see the nervousness in Damian’s body as he shifts slightly before squaring his shoulders and raising his chin. 

“I am Damian Al-Ghul Wayne. I am the Grandson of the Demon and the son of the Bat,” He announces. Peter puts his hands on Damian’s shoulders to offer him a bit of support. 

“He ran away from Nanda Parbat,” Peter explains. “Jason was in charge of raising him before he went in the pit so he came to find Jason first.” 

“That’s Jason’s mask he’s wearing,” Dick says. 

“Well… We didn’t think it was a good idea to have him running around with us without one.” 

“How long has he been here?” Dick asks. 

“I arrived in Gotham a month ago. I felt it prudent to get the lay of the land before I made my introductions. I joined Parker and Todd in their… home last week.” 

“Petey, why didn’t you guys tell me?” Dick asks. “I knew you were keeping me from the Opera house but I didn’t think…”

“They felt that I could not be trusted in your presence without intending to kill you,” Damian explains. “My mother’s plan was for me to dispose of you so that I could take my rightful place as the heir of the bat.” 

“We’ve worked through it!” Peter explains quickly. “He doesn’t even want to kill Tim anymore either!” 

“He’s met Tim?” 

“Well…” 

“Timothy Drake was not my primary target. Todd was supposed to dispose of him before my arrival here in Gotham. My mother was incorrect in her assumptions. I am… relearning.” 

“Okay…” Dick drops back to sit on an air conditioning unit. “So we have to bring him to B.” 

“That’s Damian’s decision,” Peter says. “I was thinking maybe we could get something to eat. Damian hasn’t had a batmite from Batburger yet and Jason says that’s like one of the most important rights of passage to being a Gothamite.” 

“You guys want Batburger?” Dick asks. Peter and Damian both nod their heads. Dick chuckles and gets back to his feet. “Alright, Batburger on me. They think it’s the best thing ever when we show up in costume.” 

“Lead the way Grayson,” Damian says. He takes out the grappling hook, glancing over his shoulder. Peter nods his head. 

“I could carry you if you wanted,” Dick offers. 

“I am capable on my own… I only permitted Parker to carry me because my speed is not optimal.” 

“Oh of course. My apologies,” Dick offers him a smile then walks to the edge of the roof. Peter and Damian step up to the edge beside him. “Follow me, boys.” Dick turns and backflips off the roof and shoots off his grapple. Damian lets out a huff and follows him. Peter smiles and jumps off the roof chasing after the two of them. 

At the restaurant, the teenager at the till barely even blinks as Nightwing orders two Batmite meals and a whole pile of Batburgers, with no pickles, at Peter’s instructions. Once they have their food in hand Dick leads them over to a corner booth and sits with his back against the wall so his eyes can keep track of the whole room. 

“I don’t understand what is so important about this,” Damian says as he looks at the box Dick places in front of him. 

“Its fun,” Dick says. 

“You have to find out which figure you get,” Peter explains. “RH brought me my first week here and I got a Batman. I had to hide it because I’m pretty sure he’d set it on fire if I let him get his hands on it. 

“What toy do I have?” Damian asks, turning the box from side to side as though he’s trying to see through it. 

“Don’t know until you open it,” Peter says. “Let’s open them together.” He shows Damian how to open the box the easiest way. 

“I can do it myself!” Damian says smacking Peter’s hand away. He opens the box and looks inside it. There’s a scowl on his face as he takes a Nightwing figure out of the box. “It’s a toy.” 

“It’s me!” Dick says happily. Peter opens his own box and takes out a Robin. 

“Now I have a set!” He says cheerfully as he removes the figure from its plastic wrap and stands it up on the table. 

“It’s Jay,” Dick says with a fond smile as he picks up the figure and looks at it closer. “See, his hair is parted in the middle and has those little curls. They use all of us still so you never know which Robin you’re going to get. Jay’s pretty rare though. I think they make less since no one really knows what happens to him. But honestly, he was probably the most popular with people.” 

“Wait really? Is it really him?” Peter takes it back and looks at it more closely. 

“Yeah, mine has the hair parted to the side. T has tights obviously since he’s easier to tell apart.” Dick turns Peter’s box so he can see the images of all the little figures that are available. Peter can’t wait to show Jason what he got when he gets back. He looks back at Damian to see that the kid has unwrapped his own figure and is now examining it closely.

“Is there a Spider-man figure?” Damian asks. 

“Not yet,” Dick says. “But he’s already making a name for himself and I doubt it will be long before there is one.” 

“I will begin collecting them,” Damian says. He carefully pockets the figure before taking his food out of the box and setting it out and examining it closely. He looks distrustful of the juice box as he takes it out and examines the straw on the back. 

“Ah, man juice boxes are the best,” Dick says cheerfully. “I love stabbing them with the straw.” 

“You can do mine if you want,” Peter offers, holding it out. Damian watches them closely as Dick takes the box from Peter and sets it down on the table and moves very deliberately as he takes the straw off the back and uses the sharp end to open the wrapper before sticking it into the juice box. Damian nods his head just a bit and then does the same. The juice starts to drip out and in a panic, he sticks the straw in his mouth and then turns his head to look at Peter with wide eyes. 

“Just drink a little then tilt the straw up,” Peter says. “Don’t squeeze the box too hard or it’ll spray in your face and no one likes being sticky.” Damian nods his head and then drinks a bit of juice before setting the box back down carefully, making sure to bend the straw up. 

“Will I be meeting Father after our meal?” Damian asks, opening up his apple slices and taking a tentative bite of one. Dick opens his mouth to say something but Peter cuts him off.

“Do you want to?” He asks. Damian considers it as he eats his apple slices. 

“You and Akhi both seem to think it is a good idea,” Damian says. “Why?”

“Because you’re young. There are things that kids your age need that we aren’t able to offer you at the Opera House.” 

“I have been adequately cared for despite your lacking facilities.” 

“Yeah, but you should have space for like toys and a proper table to do your homework on that doesn’t have web fluid residue or loose bullets on it. Plus you need… like maybe adult guidance that me and Jason can’t offer you.” 

“Also Agent A’s cooking,” Dick adds as he pushes a few of the burgers towards Peter. “Eat your fill.” Peter rolls up his mask over his nose so he can eat. 

“I have even heard mother compliment the meals that he prepares,” Damian admits 

“A will be overjoyed with the chance to learn new dishes.” 

“And Father… He will accept me?” Damian stares down at his food as he asks. 

“I’m not going to lie to you kiddo,” Dick says leaning onto the table. “He’s going to be… Upset at first, and that is not on you okay? He’s bad at processing his emotions sometimes. So he’ll be kind of emotional and he’ll want to test your DNA but despite all of that he isn’t going to throw you out. He’s going to bring you back to the manor and let you live there while he figures things out.” 

“If it is a problem then I can remain at the Opera House until he is sure,” Damian says. 

“I think it would be better if you stayed at the Manor while he figures it out bud. I’m staying there too so we’ll be able to get to know each other better.” 

“Peter should stay as well,” Damian decides. 

“And leave Jay alone? He’d burn the house down if he was left unattended for too long. Dami it’s not about us trying to get rid of you. I promise you’ll still see plenty of me and you can get to know D and T too. They’re your brothers. Me and you will still be able to train together with the grappling guns.” 

“I will… Consent to the meeting then. Will Akhi be there as well?” 

“We can ask him… But he has trouble being around B. He’s still struggling with the rage from the Pit,” Dick says. Damian looks a bit sullen but he nods his head and finishes off his food. Once the three of them have eaten their fill they head back out onto the rooftops of Gotham. Peter kneels to allow Damian back onto his back while Dick contacts Bruce. 

“It’s okay to be nervous you know,” Peter says. “Being nervous isn’t a weakness.”

“I’m fine,” Damian grumbles. 

“Batman, are you free?” DIck asks. Peter has Karen connect him to the Bat’s comm signal. Tim had messaged him not too long ago that they’d finished up so hopefully it went well enough that Bruce won’t be in a bad mood when they meet up with him. 

“We’re wrapping up on the dock. Do you need assistance?” 

“Not exactly… But Me and Spider-man need to tell you something so it would be better to discuss it in person.” 

“Spider-man is with you?” Bruce asks. 

“Yep.”

“I’ll send you a location,” Bruce replies, and then the comms go silent. 

“Why do I get the feeling he would have said no if I hadn’t mentioned you?” Dick asks. 

“Perhaps you are no longer the Golden child as Akhi claims you to be,” Damian suggests. Dick looks stricken and Peter snickers at him. 

“Come on, where are we supposed to meet him?” Peter asks.  Dick pulls up the location Bruce sent him on his wrist computer and forwards it to Peter as well. Peter memorizes the location and then sends a quick message to Jason. He knows that now is probably not the best time for a confrontation but Jason’s been working hard on controlling the pit rage and with all of them together then maybe, just maybe they could help him control it. 

After checking that Damian is secure on his back Peter heads towards the meeting spot. Between Jason and Peter’s identity reveals happening so close together Peter isn’t sure how well Bruce is handling things, and now they’re piling a biological son that he never had the opportunity to watch grow up on top of everything else. Even a normal person would really struggle with that. Peter kind of wonders if the heroes in this world have therapists. Or if it’s even possible for them to have therapists when they need to keep their identities secret. 

The location that Bruce picked for them to meet seems to be a pretty secluded spot. Peter can’t hear any signs of life from the building below them so he’s pretty sure that it’s abandoned. The roof however is not. Bruce and Tim have beat them there and from the shadows, Peter can hear a very faint heartbeat that he’s gotten to know pretty well. The quiet assassin girl, Cassandra, Tim had called her. Seems that she’s decided to join them for this. Though Peter isn’t sure that Bruce and Tim even know she’s there. 

“Hey B! Robin!” Dick says as he lands on the roof. 

“Nightwing, Spider-man,” Bruce says. Peter wonders suddenly if maybe this would have been better to do as civilians. There’s a sound of a grappling gun and all of them tense just a bit until Jason lands hard on the roof of the building. In this kind of setting his Red Hood uniform does look a little bit menacing. 

“Hope you didn’t start the little family reunion without me,” Jason says, he stalks forward and comes to a stop beside Peter. 

“Who is the child?” Bruce asks. Damian is mostly hidden from sight but Peter doesn’t have the bulk to fully hide him. Damian drops off Peter’s back and moves behind Jason for a moment before stepping in front of both of them. His scarf and mask are gone now and he stands straight his head held high. He exudes confidence, or maybe arrogance, but his hand strays close to one of his hidden pockets that Peter knows he keeps a throwing star in. Peter has Karen quickly scan the area to make absolutely sure there is no one but allies nearby then reaches up to pull his mask off. 

“This is Damian,” Peter says nudging the kid forward a bit. Damian crosses his arms, his eyes scanning Bruce from head to toe. 

“You are the Batman?” He asks. 

“I am,” there’s a frown on Bruce’s face as he takes in the kid before him. Can he see the bits of himself in Damian? Or is he seeing all Talia?

“You’re shorter than I expected,” Damian says. Jason snorts and then reaches up to take his helmet off as well. 

“Damian came to me because it was my duty when I was with the league to care for him,” Jason says. He’s got his domino mask on still but Peter thinks his being willing to take the mask off in front of Bruce is a step in the right direction. 

“Who exactly are you?” Bruce asks. Damian hesitates here his eyes darting between all the vigilantes gathered around him. 

“You know who he is, B,” Tim says. Bruce’s frown deepens. 

“His mother is Talia Al-Ghul,” Jason says. His eyes are starting to turn a bit green. “His father is Bruce Wayne.” 

“Parker and Todd seem to be under the impression that I would be better off living with you… Father, rather than continuing to reside with them.” 

“We’re going back to the cave,” Bruce says. “All of us.” Jason tenses up and Peter moves a bit closer bumping his shoulder against Jason’s arm. 

“It’ll be okay,” he whispers. 

“I don’t know,” Jason’s words are choked and Peter realizes suddenly what the problem is. The cave is underground. 

“We can’t go to the cave,” He says, turning to look at Bruce. “But I think that the Manor should be okay.” 

“The cave is more secure,” Bruce says. Peter meets Dick’s eyes and silently begs him to make the connection as well. This could work. They could get Jason to go home. But they can’t drag him underground when he’s already struggling to keep control of himself in Bruce’s presence. 

“Oh,” Dick says, his face softening. “No Spider-man is right B. We can’t use the cave.” 

“Fine,” Bruce says. “We’ll meet in the Manor. I’ve summoned transportation.” 

“Is there enough room for Cassandra too?” Peter asks. Everyone’s gazes turn to look at him.

“Why?” Dick asks. Peter points over at the shadows where he can hear Cass’s heartbeat coming from. 

“It would be rude to leave her behind,” He says. Cass appears out of the shadows and makes her way over to them on silent footsteps. 

“One who is all,” Damian says, looking wary of her. Cass shakes her head a bit and then holds up her hand and slowly spells out her name in sign language. 

“Cassandra,” Peter says. Cass nods her head and moves to stand on his side, opposite Jason. “Do you have another name?” 

“She also goes by Orphan,” Bruce tells them. Cass nods again. On the ground below them, there is the sound of multiple engines. “Damian will come with me in the batmobile. I expect the rest of you to follow.” He looks hesitant as he looks down at Damian. 

“Dami,” Peter gets his attention. “Grapple or ride along?” 

“Grapple,” Damian says. Peter nods and then looks at Bruce. 

“He can get down on his own,” Peter pulls his mask back onto his head. 

“Let’s go then,” Bruce jumps from the roof. 

“I’m not going to be able to get any of my homework done tonight,” Tim sighs as he jumps after him. Jason and Cass both go at the same time. Dick gives Peter’s shoulder a squeeze then does a handstand on the ledge of the roof before launching himself off it in a series of flips. 

“Are you doing alright?” Peter asks now that he and Damian are alone on the roof. 

“I am… having faith,” Damian pulls out his grappling gun and jumps from the roof. Peter looks around the rooftop one last time before jumping, trying to mimic the flips he saw Dick do on his way down to the ground. 

When he lands on the ground he’s surprised to see not only the Batmobile waiting but also several motorcycles. Dick and Tim are already seated on ones that are color coded to match their uniforms but there are two more waiting for them as well. A black one with yellow accents that Cass is circling with a curious look on her face. The last one has a red and black color scheme and a Spiderweb pattern etched into it. Two helmets hang off of it, one is just solid red but the other is red with a spiderweb pattern over it as well. 

“Are these for us?” Peter asks as he picks up the Spider helmet.

“For now,” Bruce says. 

“God he’s already making gear for you,” Jason says, sounding annoyed. 

“Wait really?” Peter asks. 

“Did you think he wouldn’t?” Tim asks. “That’s literally a Spider-bike. You have a Spider-bike now.” 

“I don’t know how to drive a motorcycle!” Peter says feeling a bit panicked. It’s one thing to ride with Jason but riding on his own feels like a bit too much. 

“I mean it can basically drive itself,” Tim shrugs. “How do you think they got here? But I’m going to guess that the reason it has two helmets is because B already thought of that.” Bruce himself says nothing about the matter. He presses a button on his belt that opens up the Batmobile and gets into it along with Damian. Jason looks annoyed but he puts his helmet on and gets onto the Spider-themed motorcycle. 

“Let’s go Spider-brat,” He says. 

“Oh geez,” Peter says as he hurries forward to put on his helmet, and gets onto the bike behind Jason. It’s a bit of a tighter fit for both of them to fit on this bike compared to Jason’s but it works. Peter wraps his arms around Jason’s waist and sticks to his back. The Batmobile peels out and the four motorcycles follow behind. 

Chapter Text

Peter

The introduction of Damian to the family and that first gathering of all of them back at the manor seems to change things for them all. Jason spends a lot more time interacting with the family and less time off doing what he'd been doing as a crime lord. He says that it’s because all the heavy work is done and he has a team in place that he’s confident can handle things without him having such a heavy presence but Peter has the feeling that it’s got a lot more to do with him wanting to interact with the family. 

His relationship with Bruce isn’t great yet. They spend a lot of their time arguing about things but at least they’re communicating now without physically fighting and Peter doesn’t feel obligated to stay away from Bruce at all anymore. This sort of peace is nice. Peter has settled into a routine of patrolling once he gets out of school for a few hours, since there are so many bats out at night he figures that the daytime is where he can make the most difference. He sticks to the worse off parts of town, Crime Alley and the Narrows, and while there’s plenty of crime for him to stop he spends a lot of his time doing what he does best and just helping the people.

It feels good to be able to go back to his roots. To remember what made him want to be Spider-man in the first place. It takes time of course, for the people to learn that they can trust him. He finds himself getting hit a lot by old ladies with purses and umbrellas and Tim and Jason tease him endlessly for it but Peter wouldn’t have it any other way. He wants these people to see that he isn’t fragile and that he won’t get violent with them for trying to protect themselves. 

By the time the spring break from school comes around, Peter is more than ready for it. He’d picked a pretty heavy class schedule for himself and as always finding the balance between school work and Spider-man was a bit of a struggle for him. It didn’t help that he had Tim with his atrocious habits rubbing off on him. Peter was pretty sure that Tim had once gone at least four days without sleeping before Jason had managed to catch him and ordered Peter to keep him webbed up until he’d gotten a solid eight hours of sleep. 

Spring break should be interesting though. Peter planned to spend some time training with the bats so he could learn how to investigate the crimes taking place properly in a way that allowed him to work more closely with the police. It still weirded him out a bit to not be considered a menace and for the police to be thankful for his assistance. Jason had even promised to start teaching him how to ride his Spider-bike during the break, which was a pretty big deal because the only place to practice on it was the many tunnels that connected to the Batcave and beneath Gotham. Jason had been practicing bit by bit, he insisted that being underground was nothing like being buried underground but Peter could see how much it strained him either way. 

Peter jumps through the broken window of the Opera House after school on a Friday and heads straight to the auditorium. They’ve gotten a lot done to make the Opera House more livable. Peter and Tim had finally gotten the parts needed to fix up the kitchen and their sleeping bags had been replaced with the fanciest camping cots that Peter had ever seen, courtesy of Alfred. They'd known it was only a matter of time before Alfred got to them and once he had he’d completely redone the place. Peter wasn’t going to complain though. He knew when to pick his battles. 

The stage now looked like a proper lab for Tim and Peter to work in, their plastic folding tables all gone and replaced with sturdy metal ones, and all the testing equipment and tools replaced with top of the line. Jason’s villain lair computer had been upgraded and his weapons all had proper locked cases. There wasn’t a speck of dust to be found anywhere and even the green room backstage had been converted into a very comfortable living room with a TV. 

Peter had gotten held up after school by one of his teachers so he was in a bit of a rush now to drop off his school uniform and bag so he could change into his uniform and get out to patrol. He tossed his bag up into the sleeping box and was halfway out of his school uniform when he realized that his suit was missing from the case Alfred had brought in for it. 

“Jason?” He calls out. 

“You’re late,” Jason’s voice comes back. Peter looks down into the villain's lair to see Jason sitting at his computer. 

“Where’s my suit?” Peter asks, hopping down. 

“Timmy took it to the cave,” Jason closes out what he was working on and turns to face Peter. 

“Why?” 

“Surprise,” Cass’s soft voice comes from behind them. Peter and Jason both turn quickly, surprised by her sudden appearance. She’s been learning more and more how to speak but still seems to prefer to stick with sign language most of the time. They never really know where they’re going to find her, she has a room at Barbara’s apartment and at Wayne Manor, She spends quite a few nights at the Opera house with them as well. A third box was converted into a bedroom for her with one of the nice cots and a pop up wardrobe for whatever clothes she wanted to leave there. Sometimes Peter will clear the lab equipment aside and they’ll use the stage to practice ballet together. 

“A surprise?” Peter looks between the two of them. 

“Yep,” Jason says, popping the P. He gets to his feet and drops a hand onto Peter’s head to ruffle through his hair. “We’ve gotta get going.” He grabs his leather jacket off the table he’d tossed it on and pulls it on. 

“Bike?” Peter asks, looking around for where his helmet had ended up. Cass hands it to him with a gentle smile on her face. Peter smiles back as he takes it. “Do you have yours too Cass?” She nods her head then jumps out of the pit and heads for the exit. Peter and Jason follow after her to where both Jason and Cass’s bikes sit waiting in the alleyway. Cass is already sitting on hers and ready to go by the time Jason manages to disable all his boobytraps. 

“Maybe I should just ride with Cass and you can catch up,” Peter teases. 

“Shut up Spider-brat I’m almost done,” Jason says as he disables the last trap. 

“Your traps are excessive and you’re paranoid,” Peter tells him. It’s an argument they’ve had a lot. 

“Learned from the best,” Jason gets on the bike and puts his helmet on. Peter hops on behind him. He barely has time to grab hold of Jason’s jacket before he takes off in the direction of the manor. Peter yelps as he nearly falls off and he hits Jason lightly on the back. 

“Jerk!” he shouts over the roar of the bike. Jason laughs as the bike gains speed, Cassandra following close behind them. 

When they arrive at the Manor Peter isn’t at all surprised to find Dick and Damian waiting outside for them. It’s clear they’ve all worked together to plan whatever this surprise is. When Peter gets off the back of Jason’s bike Damian is already making his way over to him. 

“You are late,” Damian says, placing his hands on his hips. Peter knows that Damian’s been having a hard time adjusting to his new life. Bruce is still trying to figure out how to handle the young child. His attempts to keep the gossip hungry journalists from finding out about Damian too soon means the kid has been basically stuck in the manor. They’ve all tried to help keep him occupied but the longer he’s stuck inside the more prickly he’s become and even Peter’s patience is getting a little thin when it comes to the constant insults the kid throws at him. 

“Sorry Dami I didn’t know I was supposed to be on time for anything,” Peter says, patting the kid on the head. Damian swats his hand away and storms into the house. 

“Rough day?” Jason asks. 

“Something like that,” Dick shrugs. “We’re working on it.” 

“So what’s the surprise exactly?” Peter asks. Dick laughs and shakes his head. 

“You’re not getting it out of me kiddo,” He says pulling Peter in for a hug. 

“It was worth a shot,” Peter takes his helmet off and tosses it to Jason for him to hang on the bike along with his own. 

“Inside,” Cass says before skipping up the steps and then disappearing into the Manor. 

“Yeah she’s right,” Dick says. He keeps an arm around Peter and guides him indoors, with Jason following behind him. 

“Welcome, Master Peter, Master Jason,” Alfred says as he greets them. 

“Hey Alfie,” Jason says. He takes off his jacket and hangs it on the coat rack by the door then kicks off his boots as well. Alfred had banned him from wearing them in the house when he’d discovered that they were Jason’s everyday boots whether he was Jason or Red Hood. He slips his feet into the house shoes that are waiting for him instead. 

“The others are waiting for you all to join them in the cave,” Alfred informs them. Peter glances at Jason, but he’s got a determined set to his jaw. He’s not going to let his fear of being underground stop him from going down to the cave with them. 

“To the cave then,” Peter says, pushing Dick forward toward the study. It's much easier to get down to the Batcave now. Bruce has added Peter to the security system so he can come and go as he pleases. It’s been useful. The training rooms in the Batcave are extensive. There’s an entire Gymnastics gym that Peter has used regularly with Dick and plenty of spaces for sparring. 

Dick and Peter head down to the cave first, he knows that Jason won’t be far behind them. Once they reach the bottom of the stairs Peter sees that the others are indeed waiting for them. Bruce leans against one of the tables and Tim and Damian seem to be arguing about something while Cass sits with her legs pulled up in the Batcomputer chair. 

“Okay okay, what’s my surprise?” Peter asks as he jumps down the stairs and lands between Tim and Damian just in time to stop their fight from turning physical. He catches Tim’s arm with one hand and Damian’s head with the other. 

“This imbecile is not-” Damian starts. 

“You little Turd-” Tim yells. Bruce lets out a long sigh and brings a hand up to rub his face. 

“Little brothers,” Cass says softly. Both the boys quiet down and look over at her. 

“We’re supposed to be working together today,” Jason says as he and Dick reach the bottom of the stairs. 

“It is not my fault that Drake can not accept that I am the better choice for the title of Robin!” Damian insists. 

“Are we back on this? I thought we had an agreement,” Dick sighs. 

“If I was Robin then I would be able to go out at night with Batman!” 

“Damian, you are too young to be Robin,” Bruce says. 

“I am not a child to be kept prisoner in my own home.”

“You aren’t a prisoner Damian,” Bruce stands up straight. “Let’s table this discussion for now. We have something to do today.” Dick lifts Damian up and moves him further away from Tim. Peter meets Tim’s gaze to make sure he’s not gonna try anything before letting go of his wrist. Tim flips Damian off and then crosses his arms. 

“Anyway,” Jason rolls his eyes as he tries to get them back on track. “Let’s show him his suit.” 

“Oh yeah!” Peter looks around the room for his suit and then pauses as his eyes land on the row of displayed suits. He stares, wide eyed at the sight of the newest case in the cave. Because the suit that sits on it cannot belong to any of the heroes gathered around him. The suit looks similar to the one that he’d brought to Gotham with him, with a solid black base, and the boots his signature red, matching the silhouette of a spider that spreads across the chest and up over the shoulders to trail down the arms in stripes that match the ones on the Nightwing suit. There’s a red utility belt around the waist of it and instead of a full mask the suit has a red hood and a domino mask and while the shape of the lenses are the same the mask has a black outline so it looks like the masks the others are so fond of. On the buckle, there is a small black bat symbol. 

“Is this… Is this for me?” Peter asks as he moves towards the case and places a hand against the glass. 

“Of course it is,” Tim says coming up beside him. “Come on, you had to know it was only a matter of time before Bruce put his own spin on your costume and claimed you as one of his own.” 

“I mean… Jay said he would but this… It’s..” 

“Your original suit is in the changing room,” Bruce says quickly. “Dick and Jason both had some suggestions for the design of this one. Dick insisted that the finger stripes were an integral part of his suit and that as his offspring you should wear them too. The hood of course was Jason’s contribution.” 

“Not only does it look cool as shit, the hood can be used to filter out unwanted sounds! Plus you hate when the water gets on your face,” Jason tells him. 

“I made the mask!” Tim says excitedly. “Karen helped me design it. It’ll work the same way as the lenses in your current suit and she said that your bots can become the full face mask that you usually wear and they’ll integrate with the domino!” 

“I know you prefer more flexibility and need to be aerodynamic so I’ve made sure the suit was flexible like Dick’s, so it’s not as durable as I’d prefer but it shouldn’t hinder your movements at all. The same with the Utility belt. You don’t normally wear one but Gotham tends to require a bit more gear carried with you. The whole suit is, of course, waterproof, and hea-” Bruce is cut off as Peter throws himself at the older man and squeezes him tightly in a hug. 

“Thank you,” Peter says as he squeezes his eyes shut and tries not to cry. They all did this for him. Designed a suit with all of his preferences in mind. They all worked together for him. “I love it.” Bruce hesitates for a moment before he returns the hug, squeezing Peter just as tightly. 

“I’m glad you like it,” Bruce says, sounding a bit choked up. Peter lets Bruce go and pulls both Dick and Jason into quick hugs before he takes the suit out of the case carefully. 

“Thank you, Tim,” Peter holds out his fist to the other teen. 

“You definitely owe me,” Tim grins at him as he knocks his fist against Peter’s. “Do you know how hard it was to get Jason and Bruce to behave while we did this?” 

“I can only imagine,” Peter laughs before hurrying to the changing room. Like Bruce said the suit that Peter had arrived in Gotham with is sitting folded neatly on a shelf in the room. Peter puts a hand to it. He’d made this suit himself with the fabricator on the jet after Happy had picked him up. It had served him well in the time since then but Peter felt like maybe it was time to change. 

The new suit of course fits him perfectly. Peter puts the belt around his waist and slides a finger over the bat symbol on the buckle. Peter has a new home now, and this means that he has a family again, doesn’t it? The bats have fully accepted them into their home and their team. Bruce putting the symbol on him means that he’s claiming Spider-man as one of his own. So the people and the rogues of Gotham will know that Peter is with them. Peter can’t help but wonder if it would have felt like this if he’d accepted Tony’s invitation to join the Avengers when he’d first offered. 

Peter shakes off the sudden melancholy and picks up the domino mask that goes with the suit. He considers the mask glue that they keep in the changing room but decides instead to see if he can stick it on his own. He puts the mask over his eyes and it stays. Peter pulls the hood up and then stands in front of the mirror to take in his new look. It feels strange to be able to see so much of his face while in costume. Not bad, but still a bit weird. Peter can kind of get why the heroes here are so fond of it though. The mask changes the structure of his face enough that he shouldn’t be recognizable but leaving his mouth free allows people to see his expressions. It might be useful when getting civilians to trust him. 

“It suits you,” Damian says from the doorway. Peter turns to look at him. 

“You think so?” Peter asks. 

“I do, Father would not take any of my suggestions for additions,” Damian says. Peter sits down on the bench and rests his arms on his legs. 

“What did you want to add?” 

“There are not near enough places to hide weapons on your person.” 

“No, probably not, but for me it’s more about aerodynamics you know? I need to be able to move quickly and still be flexible enough to fight the way I do.” 

“Tt there is no reason you couldn’t do both,” Damian says with his arms crossed. 

“Maybe, but I’ve only met a couple of Assassins in my world so I don’t have as extensive training as you, Cass, or Jason do.”

“Tim too, he was trained by Lady Shiva,” Damian reminds him.

“That’s right. I had the Black Widow to train me but I didn't have a lot of time with her.” 

“Has she passed away too?” Damian asks. 

“Yeah, It seems to happen a lot to people around me,” Peter admits. He probably shouldn’t be telling this to an eight year old. 

“I have seen a lot of death,” Damian admits. “My mother and grandfather raised me to be the perfect weapon and I exceeded their expectations. But I have not experienced the death of someone that I am connected to.”

“I hope you never have to Kiddo,” Peter says. “But I know that in this line of work, anything can happen. The important thing is knowing that you have people you can rely on if that time ever comes. People who will be there for you.” 

“A family?” Damian asks.

“A family,” Peter agrees. “You have that here.”

“Not like they actually want me,” Damian says, his voice laced with hurt. 

“They do want you Damian, I promise that. Jay would too if you told him. We’ll talk to Bruce okay? Maybe we can figure something out, no one knows who me and Jay are, maybe we can take you out,” Peter suggests. Damian’s eyes light up and he stands up straighter. 

“Brilliant idea Parker! If I cannot patrol with my father at night then I will just patrol during the day with you!” Damian turns and runs from the changing room yelling for Bruce. Peter curses under his breath and chases after him. 

Chapter Text

Jason

Jason is in the sleeping box trying to sleep off a long night of bullshit between his own gang and Black Masks when the proximity alarm that he’d set up around the Opera house goes off. They’d gotten as many of the holes in the building patched up as they could without alerting people to the fact that something was going on inside and they’d discreetly walled off the ones that they couldn’t. The only people who should know how to get inside now should be the people they allow. So the fact that the proximity alert had been set off meant that someone unrecognized had managed to squeeze inside. 

“Can’t a guy get some fucking sleep without being interrupted?” He grumbles to himself as he gets up and pulls his favorite gun and his dagger out from under his pillow. He pulls up the security system on his phone and sees that the system by their usual entrance had detected motion but the camera hadn’t picked anything up. Something complicated then probably. Jason was really getting sick of complicated. He puts his boots on and grabs his helmet from the stand Peter had built for him beside his bed. 

He puts his helmet on and heads out of the box to head for the back stairs. He doesn’t hear anything in the auditorium. Sound usually echoes pretty well from there up to the boxes so he’s pretty sure that the intruder is probably somewhere in the backstage area. Jason moves silently as he works his way through the building, clearing room by room as he goes. There are a lot of nooks and crannies throughout the Opera House and while they make for a pretty fun game of hide and seek they’re exceptionally annoying now. Jason makes a note in his head to have Peter and Tim lock up the rooms they don’t use the next time they’re looking for a project to do. 

He’s cleared most of the backstage and hasn’t seen a single sign of another person. If he got himself out of bed for a false alarm then he’s going to be really pissed off, but his paranoia won’t let him go back to sleep until he’s completely sure that he’s alone. Jason opens up the door to the kitchen slowly and moves into the room with his gun raised. 

“Sup,” There is a girl sitting at their kitchen table holding a sandwich in both hands as she looks at him. Jason stares back. 

“What the fuck?” He asks, keeping his weapon pointed at her. The girl blinks at him once and brushes her bangs out of her eyes with one hand before going back to eating. She has long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and she’s wearing a large purple hoodie that looks like it might be pretty fuzzy. 

“You guys don’t have a website so I figured I’d come to drop off my application in person but then I got in here and I realized I hadn’t had lunch yet so I figured I’d just snag a quick bite before I looked for anyone,” She says with a shrug. Jason thinks he might have a concussion. 

“Who the fuck are you?” He asks. 

“Hopefully the newest resident of the Opera house. I mean come on can you really call it haunted if there’s only one ghost living in it? I mean come on that’s so lame.” 

“Two ghosts,” Jason corrects her for some reason instead of just shooting her. She blinks at him. 

“The Spider-kid is a ghost too?” She asks. 

“Yes,” Jason hasn’t lowered his gun yet but she seems completely unbothered. 

“Okay, maybe two ghosts is a little better. But three. Three ghosts would really make a proper haunting.” 

“What the fuck is happening right now who are you?” 

“OH!” She blinks. “Sorry, I’m Steph. I thought you’d know that.” 

“Why would I know that?” 

“Does Tim not keep a picture of me at his bedside to cry to? That’s annoying. Like sure maybe we broke up before I died but he should still mourn me a little bit. That’s just common courtesy!” 

“Like anyone in this fucking family knows how to react to shit normally,” Jason says. He pulls out a chair and drops down into it to sit across from her. He sets his gun on the table but doesn’t let go of it. 

“I need another sandwich you want one?” She asks as she gets up to grab the supplies from the fridge. 

“Sure?” Jason’s pretty positive that he has a concussion now. They’re both quiet as Steph moves about the kitchen and makes them both sandwiches like she owns the fucking place or something. 

“So what do you think?” She says as she puts both their plates down and sits once again. 

“About what?” 

“About me living here?” She rolls her eyes. “I told you I came to put in my application.” 

“So you’re… Not dead?” 

“Nope,” she says popping the p.

“Where you ever dead?” Jason picks up his sandwich and takes a bite. 

“For like a couple minutes,” She shrugs. 

“Then where have you been?” He gets up and finds two glasses to fill with lemonade for them both. Steph thanks him when he hands her a glass.

“I ran away to Africa. Spent some time helping people with Leslie, seemed like the right thing to do after she helped me fake my death.” 

“Why… why would she help you fake your death?” Jason asks sitting back down. Steph looks at him for a moment. 

“I’m sure that she had a lot of reasons… But I think the biggest one was that she never forgave Bruce for making her do your autopsy,” she says it softly but Jason still chokes on the bite he’d just taken and he has to finish off his lemonade before he can speak. 

“It was her?” The scar on his chest itches. 

“Yeah… I guess Bruce brought you back from Ethiopia. He’d only let Leslie do it. Anyway, she wanted him to stop bringing kids into this shit after that. When Tim forced his way in it probably really pissed her off and then of course I only made it a few months as Robin before I got fired. When my plan went to shit and she saw what Black Mask did to me she was ready to do anything to punish B.”

“I fucking love that woman,” Jason says with a grin. 

“You should probably tell her that then,” Steph shrugs, “She’s setting up her clinic again. She was gonna look for some free labor to help her get it reopened.” 

“She know I’m alive?” 

“Does anyone besides the family?” 

“Not that I know of. Did Tim tell you about this place?” 

“No, I gave him a taste of his own medicine and have been stalking him for a few days. I knew he’d be at school still so I figured I’d stop by now.” 

“To get shot?” 

“I knew you wouldn’t shoot me if you didn’t think I was a threat. You’re a big softy. 

“Fuck you, I literally murdered all the drug lords who weren’t getting on board with my plans!” 

“Yeah yeah duffle bag of heads whatever, you were definitely a drama kid. Did you really used to say that Robin gave you magic? Because that shit is adorable. Leslie told me all about little baby Jason Todd,” Steph’s grin looks absolutely devious and Jason doesn’t even want to think about all the dirt Leslie had on him. She was there for him before he’d ever even laid eyes on the batmobile. 

“I fucking hate you,” Jason grumbles. 

“Yeah right, I get the feeling that we’re going to be the best of friends. So can I stay?” 

“I’ve got to run it by the others. You need at least a majority vote, and Cass will have to be willing to share her sleeping box because the other ones aren’t structurally sound.” 

“I bet I get three yeses and one no,” Steph says. 

“Who’s going to say no?” 

“Tim, You think he’s not going to take me faking my death personally?” 

“Well shit, I might even be willing just to let you stay to annoy him then.” 

“See, best friends. I told you so,” Steph gets up and takes both their plates to the sink to wash. 

“Fine, we can run it by them when they get home from school. Tell Leslie you’ve got some muscle for her and ask her when she wants them at the clinic.”

“Already done,” Steph says waving her phone at him. “So who all exactly lives here in the Opera house?” 

“Me and Peter are the only full-time residents. Tim’s here most days but I think Bruce is actually trying to parent him so he has to spend at least two or three nights at the manor. Cass comes and goes as she pleases. Damian’s still a little new, Bruce doesn’t let him out of the manor much but he has a habit of coming here when he runs away.” 

“How often does the big bat show up?” 

“He hasn’t yet, at least that we know of. I think he’s realized that this is a boundary that he can’t cross,” Jason tries not to think about it too hard if he’s honest. Because Peter and Tim, they wouldn’t really care. Bruce coming in here wouldn’t bother them too much. But Jason, he wouldn’t be able to stomach it. This is his safe house, and he’s not sure if he’d be able to stay if Bruce violated that. So Bruce is keeping out for just Jason. Which really kind of pisses him off. Since when is Bruce so damned considerate? 

“Leslie says she’s heading to the clinic now, she’ll take the help whenever it’s available,” Steph says. “Should we head over?” 

“I need to get my uniform first. If I’m bringing my men in they can’t see my face.” 

“Oooo does this mean I get to suit up too? I haven’t since I got to Gotham.” 

“I mean if you want to,” Jason shrugs and gets to his feet. “I think you’ve got enough of a connection to Leslie that people won’t blink at you also being there. But Spoiler has been gone for a while. Are you ready for that kind of attention?”

“Am I ready for people to see Spoiler chilling with the big bad Red Hood? Yes absolutely,” Steph hops to her feet. “I’m going to get my suit!” 

“This is really going to fuck up my reputation,” Jason sighs and then goes to get changed. He’s not sure how he ended up with all these damned bats hanging around him when he’d come to Gotham to fuck all their shit up, but while he won’t admit it out loud he has kind of enjoyed it a bit. Their chaos is refreshing after so many years of nothing but pain and anger. 

Once he sends the word out it only takes about a half hour for him to gather up enough of his gang to help Leslie get the clinic back up and running. She of course looks wholly unimpressed to find the Red Hood and forty members of his gang at her door. Hell, more of them had wanted to come But Jason wanted to assess what actually needed to be done before he brought in too many of them. After all the majority of his gang where Crime Alley born and raised and Leslie had treated a pretty good chunk of them from birth. 

“So what’s this supposed to be then?” She asks with her arms crossed. 

“They’re the muscle I promised you!” Steph drops down from the roof and lands beside Jason. 

“And what exactly is this help going to cost me?” the look on Leslie’s face is severe enough that Jason’s pretty sure most men would be quivering in their boots if they’d come here meaning to do harm. He reaches up to his helmet and flicks off the voice modulator. 

“I’d accept one of those caramel apple suckers if you had any on hand but other than that we’re free,” He tells her. Leslie stares at him, a frown on her face as she tries to place his voice. He knows he sounds different now. His voice had barely even broken when he died. But his Crime Alley accent never went away and he’s pretty sure there’s enough of the boy she knew him as left for her to figure it out. 

“Who are…” She says. Jason points a thumb over his shoulder at his group. 

“Why don’t we put them to work and then you and me can sit down for a cup of tea,” he suggests. Leslie takes a deep breath, gives him a curt nod, and then starts shouting orders. Jason’s pretty proud that not a single member of his gang hesitated to follow them. He thinks he should probably give them some sort of bonus or something for this. 

Once everyone is working and Steph promises to keep an eye on things Jason follows Leslie into what used to be her office. There’s only a desk there now, a couple of chairs, and several still packed boxes but they make do. Leslie finds her electric kettle and a few mugs in one of the boxes and sets them up then sits down and looks at him. 

“Let’s see it then,” She tells him. Jason nods and takes off his helmet. He sets it down on the desk and then sits across from her. Leslie looks him over from head to toe. 

“Long time no see,” He says, feeling a bit awkward under her scrutiny. 

“I did your autopsy,” Leslie says. “You were dead. I know you were dead.” 

“I was,” He confirms. “It didn’t stick.” 

“What do you mean it didn’t stick? Death is not… Death is permanent.” 

“I guess mine wasn’t. I don’t know why or how. I just woke up,” He shrugs his shoulders like it’s nothing. Like he doesn’t sometimes still wake up feeling like he’s trapped six feet under. 

“Where?” 

“Exactly where Bruce left me. Six feet under in a real nice coffin. A belt buckle isn’t the most efficient tool but it’ll do in a pinch.” 

“Jason,” Her voice is slightly scolding but there’s a waver to it, Jason doesn’t like that there’s a waver to it. 

“Sorry, sorry it's… It’s been a long road to get back to Gotham, I’m still figuring things out,” he admits.  

“Are you sure that Gotham is the right place for you to do that? I don’t know what’s happened these last few years but I like to think that I know you, Jason Todd. I know how you can get when you’re angry and I know how Bruce can get.” 

“It… hasn’t been pretty. I’m getting better, we’re getting better.”

“And by that, you mean that you’re ignoring the root of the problem I take it?” 

“Something like that yeah, it’s whatever. Bruce has enough to deal with. Wait til you meet Dick jr and the pipsqueak.” 

“What exactly does that mean?” She asks as she gets up to make them both their tea. 

“Bruce gained himself a bio kid, Damian is eight. Dick also gained a bio kid, he’s seventeen. I’m gonna just go with time travel shenanigans on that one to save you the headache of the whole story. I’ll bring them both by the next time Damian breaks out of his house arrest. But you’ll probably meet Spider-Man sooner. He’s kinda doing the whole daytime vigilante thing. Very big on helping out the little guy.” 

“That’s refreshing. Are they all at the manor then? I heard about Bludhaven,” Leslie hands him a mug and then sits back down. 

“No, I don’t think I could go back to living at the manor after everything. Peter and I have a safe house, and Tim stays with us sometimes. I think Steph will be moving in too,” Jason shrugs. 

“Dick’s son is living with you?” 

“Yeah it’s a long story. It drives Dick absolutely insane that I found him first  and since Goldie doesn’t have his own place it works out better.” 

“You think that Peter would leave if Dick did have his own apartment?”

“I mean, he is basically Dick’s kid? He never got to know his dad before so it would make sense. Besides it’s not like we’re living in a proper home,” Jason fidgets a bit with his gloves. He hates when Leslie does this shit. Always making him think harder about things. She’s done it since he was a kid when he tried to play off how scared he was as his mother fell further and further into addiction. His relief when Willis was gone and also his fear when he realized that meant the only income his family had was gone too. 

“Jason,” Leslie says, Jason looks away from her far too knowing gaze. “Have you thought that he might just enjoy living with you?” 

“I don’t know, can we just save the therapy session for later?” 

“Sure but I won’t let you avoid it forever,” Leslie shrugs. 

“Yeah yeah, I missed you too,” Jason gets to his feet and grabs his helmet off the desk. He’s just pulling it on when shouts come from the lobby. 

“Hello! Is there a doctor here?” An all too familiar voice calls out. Leslie has already pulled her medical bag out of some hidden spot and is hurrying to the lobby. Jason follows behind her and isn’t at all surprised to see Peter in his spider-suit in the lobby holding a civilian in his arms. 

“Spider-man,” Jason says, “What’s going on?” 

“Someone find a gurney!” Leslie calls out. 

“J-Red Hood! Hi!” Peter says. “Sorry, my friend here got a little stabbed. But he said he didn’t want to go to the hospital and he’d heard that the free clinic was open again.” 

“You’re a day early but we’ll figure it out,” Leslie tells him. Two of Jason’s men bring a gurney over and under Leslie’s instructions, they get it set up to the proper height. Peter lays the man down on it and then moves aside as Leslie gets to work on assessing the injuries. Peter’s mask retracts to just the domino mask. 

“Hi,” Peter says, there’s blood on his suit. 

“Are you hurt?” Jason asks. Peter looks down and frowns. 

“Ah man, no I’m fine it’s not mine. I’m gonna have to bring this to Agent A to wash out aren’t I?” 

“We could try hosing you off first and see if that works,” Still Jason grabs Peter’s shoulders and moves him around so he can check to make sure there are no actual injuries. 

“I really just found him,” Peter says, batting his hands away. “I was gonna go after the guys who did it but he asked for help so I couldn’t leave him there. I got one of them with one of Robin’s trackers so I’m going to go catch up now that he’s okay.” 

“Maybe you should take backup with you,” Jason suggests. 

“You’re busy, aren’t you? Robin and Nightwing went to Jump City for a training exercise and Orphan is still sleeping,” Peter shrugs. “It’s pretty small stuff I think I can handle it on my own.” 

“Brat we’ve been over this,” Jason says dropping a hand onto Peter’s head and ruffling his hair. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you have to. Plus I ran into another ghost today and I’m sure if you ask nicely she’d be happy to go with you.” Jason heads further into the clinic pulling Peter along behind him. They find Spoiler sitting on top of a filing cabinet ordering people around. Peter’s jaw drops as he sees her. 

“You’re Spoiler!” Peter says. Spoiler grins and jumps down off the filing cabinet. 

“You’re the Spider!” 

“Spider-man!” Peter corrects her. “You’re alive! Oh man, Robin is going to be so excited when he gets back from his mission with the Titans!” 

“I don’t exactly know about that,” Spoiler says. “We weren’t on the best of terms at the time of my death.” 

“That’s okay, you can work it out. Are you going to live with us? I’m sure Orphan wouldn’t mind sharing her box with you. Or are you going to the manor? I think Agent A is annoyed that he can’t convince us to stay with him. But he’s got his hands full with little D,” 

“Okay hold on slow down. What are you on drugs or something?” She asks. 

“Adrenaline probably,” Peter admits, as he rocks back on his heels. “I have to go to catch some stab happy muggers. You wanna come with me?” 

“Oh absolutely, I was starting to think today would be boring hanging around with Red Hood,” Steph waves a dismissive hand at Jason and he responds by flipping her off. 

“Try to keep from getting stabbed yourself,” Jason suggests. Peter and Steph look at each other for just a moment before looking back at Jason and flipping him off with both hands. Jason regrets everything as the two of them run off together. 

Chapter Text

Peter

Something big is coming. Peter can feel it, like an itch at the base of his skull that won’t go away. It’s a startlingly familiar feeling, one that he hadn’t understood the first time it had come. It’s the feeling that had hung over him in the weeks leading up to the first attack by Thanos. Something terrifying is coming, something dangerous, with the ability to destroy the world as they know it. Peter doesn’t know how to figure out what it is. He doesn’t know how to explain to the others, but he thinks that they might already know. On top of his spider sense Peter just has that feeling that he thinks comes from years as a vigilante, noticing the differences in the world around him. 

He thinks that the Bats are noticing it too but nobody can quite put a finger on exactly what it is. So they all search for this unknown threat. Bruce spends more time on the watchtower or on off world missions. Nightwing decides that he needs to travel and check in on all his Titans. Jason’s collection of weapons stashed at the Opera house grows bigger and bigger and his security measures more intense. Peter doesn’t know this world well enough yet. He needs to learn more, and see more. If he can just find the right clue, the right idea, then maybe his Spider sense will be able to tell him where the threat is coming from. So he spreads his senses out as far as they’ll go and he convinces the bats to help him travel. 

When his photography class takes a field trip to Metropolis he suits up and sneaks out of his hotel room window to search the city until Superman finds him on the roof of the Daily Planet. He travels to Jump City with Tim to meet his Titans team and he searches there as well. He goes to Star, and to Central, and he meets the heroes that function there. He convinces Bruce to bring him to the Watchtower. He searches for something, anything that will give them an advantage. He finds nothing. 

Peter crouches on a light pole, his gaze focused on a group of kids that play a game of baseball in an empty field across the street. When he’d seen them setting up earlier he’d gone over and helped them check for anything dangerous hidden in the dirt and grass. A few needles, some broken glass, sharp bits of metal. He’d cleaned it all up for them so they could safely play. He couldn’t hear anything else happening right now so he sat and he watched the children and he searched for the threat. 

“Hey dude what are you doing?” A voice calls out. Peter looks down at the street below him and finds a dark skinned teen standing there looking up at him. Peter gives him a wave.

“Watching the game,” He says with a shrug. 

“Don’t you have something more important to be doing?” The teen asks. 

“Not right now,” Peter shrugs. “There’s nothing major going on that I can hear. It’s nice seeing the kids having fun.” 

“Are you a Robin?” 

“I’m a Spider,” Peter says. He takes one last look at the baseball game and then jumps down to the ground. He points at the spider emblem on his chest. “See Spider.” 

“Aren’t you all supposed to be nocturnal?” The teen asks. 

“The others are. But there’s people who need help during the day too. I figured my skills would be more useful helping people than adding another vigilante to the overnight roster.” 

“What about the big stuff that’s coming?”: He asks. 

“If the bats and birds need help then I’ll help them,” Peter taps the bat symbol on his belt. “Batman gave me his seal of approval so it’s the least I can do.” 

“People say you’ve been seen with Red Hood. Isn’t he a criminal?” 

“Everyone deserves a second chance. Are people really talking about me?” 

“Of course they are. You’re running all around the city carrying groceries and stopping muggings. You clean up trash and shit. It’s not normal for Gotham, of course, people are going to notice.” 

“Huh yeah, I guess that makes sense. They say good stuff I hope,” Peter grins at him. 

“Mostly,” The teen shrugs. “They say you’re looking for something.” 

“I… yeah I am.” 

“What is it?” 

“I don’t know yet,” Peter admits. “But I think I’ll know it when I find it.” 

“It’s something bad right?” 

“I think so yeah… How did you know that?” 

“I don’t know,” The teen shrugs his shoulders again. “Just feels like that. I’m looking for something too.” 

“Are you…” Peter cuts himself off, are you normal is probably a pretty rude question to ask and anyone meta living in Gotham probably wants to keep that on the downlow. “What are you looking for?”

“My parents, they went missing the last time Joker broke out of Arkham.” 

“I heard about that,” Peter had seen the large pile of missing person cases on Tim’s desk. “Do you have a picture? I’ll keep an eye out for them. Robin is working on the missing persons cases but… There’s a lot.” Then teen hurries to pull out his wallet and slips a small family picture out to give to him. Peter takes it carefully and memorizes the faces of the two adults who smile out of it. 

“They’re good people,” the teen says.

“I’m sure they are,” Peter hands the photo back. “We’ll find them. Do you have someone to take care of you until then?” 

“I’m in foster care,” He says looking away. Peter eyes the rather full looking bag on his shoulder. 

“You know the Old Opera House?” Peter asks. 

“The haunted one?” 

“Yeah, that’s the one… If you’re ever in danger, or you need help. Go there. It’s a safe place. If you go there one of us will find you. Even if you just need a safe place to sleep for the night alright?” 

“You’re just gonna give that information out? What if I start telling everybody?” 

“I’m a pretty good judge of character,” Peter says. “I usually know who’s trustworthy or not.” 

“Right…” 

“Spider-man there is a robbery in progress at the Bank of Gotham,” Karen says. Peter can hear the alarms in the distance. 

“Ah, sorry duty calls. I’m Spider-man, by the way,” He says holding out his hand. The teen eyes him suspiciously before clasping his hand. 

“Nice to meet you,” He says not giving out his name. 

“Stay out of trouble,” Peter says before shooting off a web and heading to the bank. 

It’s not until later that night when he’s finished his patrol and he’s in the Batcave sparring with Damian that the teen’s words really hit him. ‘ What about the big stuff that’s coming ’ he feels it too. Whatever he is, whatever powers he’s got, he can feel it too. That means that Peter’s not crazy. That means that something really is about to go wrong. The thought is so jarring that if it wasn’t for Peter’s spider sense forcing him to drop to the ground he would have gotten hit by Damian’s staff. The kid seems to sense something is wrong because he stops and stares down at Peter. 

“What is with that look on your face?” Damian asks. 

“Sorry just… Something someone said to me on patrol today finally registered,” Peter explains as he sits up and crosses his legs. 

“What was it?” 

“I think something big is going to happen soon,” Peter admits. He wouldn’t normally tell that to someone as young as Damian, but he’s learned that the kid does a lot better with information if people are just honest with him. He’s a smart kid, smarter than Peter was at his age. 

“I believe that Father feels the same way,” Damian admits. “He has been nearly as obsessive as Drake lately and I don’t think Drake has even slept in the last three days.” 

“That’s… kinda worrying,” Peter pushes up into a handstand and then flips onto his feet. “Let’s go web him onto a soft surface so he has to sleep.” Peter heads out of the training rooms and listens for Tim’s heartbeat. 

“Can we web him to the cave ceiling again?” Damian asks as he follows behind Peter. 

“Is the cave ceiling soft?” Peter asks. 

“Yes,” Damian lies confidently. Peter laughs and ruffles the kid's hair then pulls his hand away quickly before Damian can swipe at him. 

“Maybe we can try that next time Kon comes to visit,” Peter offers. 

“Please we don’t need that Alien abomination here in order to trap Drake,” Damian scoffs. 

“Don’t say that, Dami,” Peter scolds him. “Besides we need him here to babysit Tim on the ceiling so he doesn’t cut the webs and let himself fall like he tried last time.” 

“I suppose it would be rather tedious to monitor Drake while he slept to ensure that his stupidity does not end in his demise.” 

“That’s the spirit,” Peter says as he jumps over the stairs to the lab level of the cave where Tim is, of course, working on his laptop, Dick is there too doing something with his Escrima sticks. “Not to mention the mess. With the amount of caffeine in Tim’s blood it's probably almost as radioactive as mine. You’d have to wear a hazmat suit to clean it up and those are so uncomfortable.” Silence follows Peter’s words and he stops walking to take in his surroundings. Dick and Tim are both now staring at him and when he looks behind him Damian’s face is scrunched up. 

“Peter,” Dick says his name slowly. 

“Yes?” Peter blinks at him. 

“Did you just say that your blood is radioactive?” 

“Yes?” Peter thought that they knew that, but he realizes now that he hasn’t really had any huge injuries since he got here since he’s been sticking to the small time stuff. 

“Can I see your arm real quick?” Tim asks. Somehow he’s already produced a syringe and a vial from somewhere. 

“We’ve talked about the experimentation,” Peter reminds him. 

“It’s for your medical file,” Tim says. “We need to know the level of radiation so we take the proper measures if you ever get hurt. You wouldn’t want Alfred or Leslie getting radiation poisoning from helping you would you?” 

“I… I guess not,” Peter admits. 

“Would you feel more comfortable with Grayson taking your blood?” Damian asks, “He is after all the one who gave you your powers.” 

“I what!?” Dick shouts, his voice going up several octaves. 

“What? No Dami that’s not what I said,” 

“What is all of the shouting about?” Bruce asks as he joins them. 

“We need Peter’s blood,” Tim says. 

“You can’t have my blood,” Peter tells him. 

“You said that it was your father’s research that gave you your powers,” Damian says. Bruce blinks slowly at his youngest son and then looks at Peter again. 

“Is that true?” He asks. Dick makes a wounded sort of sound and vaults over the work table to pull Peter into a tight hug. Tim types away rapidly on his computer and suddenly a video call with Jason has connected. 

“Oh my god, what is happening right now?” Peter asks. “Seriously I just wanted to try and make Tim nap!” 

“Jason,” Tim says with a very serious voice. “Did you know that Peter is radioactive?” 

“He’s what?!” Bruce and Jason yell at the same time. Peter wishes the spider had given him the ability to disappear. 

“I did this to you!?” Dick asks. 

“No, my dad did not experiment on me!” Peter insists. “I was bitten by a radioactive spider. So yes, now I am a little radioactive.”

“But you said-” Damian starts. 

“I said that my dad was a biologist. He was studying cross-species genetics and his research helped to develop the Spider that bit me and gave me my powers. But that didn’t happen until I was thirteen and my parents died when I was four. His partner continued their research without him. I went on a field trip to the lab and got bitten by the spider. So yes my dad played a part in the creation of the Spider but no one experimented on me.” 

“Are you radioactive?” Jason asks through the video call. 

“My blood is a little radioactive. But not like super threat levels of radioactive.” 

“I’ll be there in ten,” Jason says before the call cuts out. Peter groans and drops his head back onto Dick’s shoulder. 

“It’s not a big deal,” Peter insists. “Doctor Cho and Doctor Banner did all sorts of tests. Karen has my whole medical file.” It's definitely less than ten minutes later that the roar of a motorcycle fills the cave as Jason arrives. 

“He did not follow traffic laws,” Tim mutters and Jason makes his way up to them. 

“There’s no traffic laws in the tunnel,” Jason snaps back. He pulls Peter from Dick’s hold and checks him over for injuries. Peter rolls his eyes. 

“I am not actively bleeding,” He tells the older teen. 

“Why are we talking about Peter’s blood when he’s not actively bleeding?” Jason asks. 

“Because I need a blood sample!” Tim says. 

“You need a nap!” Peter snaps back. Bruce brings up a hand and pinches the bridge of his nose. 

“Fighting why?” Cass asks as she melts out of the shadows and sits on the table, subtly shutting Tim’s laptop in the process. 

“Tim’s trying to experiment on me,” Peter tells her. 

“Peter didn’t tell us that he has radioactive blood,” Tim says back. Cass blinks at them both. 

“Boys,” Bruce snaps at them. Peter and Tim both shut their mouths and glower at him. Jason looks a little proud as he throws an arm around Peter’s shoulders and pulls him into his side. Damian looks like he’s absolutely living for the chaos. 

“Little D,” Dick says softly as he covers Damian’s mouth to keep him from adding to it. 

“Thank you,” Bruce says a bit softer. “Peter, you said your AI has all of your medical records correct?” 

“Yes,” Peter crosses his arms. 

“Alright. Please have her send them to the Batcomputer so we can update the file we have for you. I got your healing factor estimations from Tim but it will make us all feel better knowing what we can do to help you in the case of an emergency,’ Bruce explains. 

“Fine,” Peter rolls his eyes and slumps back against Jason letting him support his weight while he taps on his watch to get the files sent over. 

“While I’ve got you all here,” Bruce says. “There’s a gala being held here at the manor in three days' time. It's the annual fundraiser for the children’s hospital so I am not going to be cancelling it. That said… I think that it’s a good opportunity to properly introduce Peter and Damian to the people of Gotham. Peter as Dick’s ward and Damian as my son.” Peter scrunches up his face at the idea of getting dressed up all fancy and mingling with people. He’d had to do it before as Tony’s intern and he’d absolutely hated it. He sees the same look mirrored on Damian’s face and wonders exactly how much of a disaster it will be. 

“What’s the story for Damian’s sudden appearance?” Tim asks. 

“As close to the truth as we can come. Talia was a well known figure during her time in Gotham. We will tell them that Damian grew up with his mother in Pakistan and has come to live with me now.” 

“They already think most of us are your bastard children any way I guess it won’t make much of a difference,” Jason shrugs. 

“Jaylad,” Bruce says. 

“NOPE, No, Not happening,” Jason says. Peter’s pretty sure he’s about to bolt so he sticks himself to Jason and his feet to the floor just in case. 

“This could be an opportune moment to have you legally revived. I’ve spoken to Oliver about the process he had to go through when he returned and-” 

“N-O old man,” Jason snaps at him. He tries to leave but can’t move. He glares down at Peter. “Let me go.” 

“No,” Peter tilts his head back and smiles up at him. 

“Alright. We can table that discussion for now,” Bruce placates. Jason puts a hand over Peter’s face to hide his smile and glares at Bruce. 

“I am perfectly fine remaining dead. Especially if it means I don’t have to put on a monkey suit and perform for all the rich assholes and the press.” 

“It’s not going to be that bad,” Bruce promises. “I have only invited members of the press that can be trusted.” 

“Oh Uncle Clark will be there,” Dick says cheerfully. Bruce narrows his eyes at his eldest son. 

“There are other journalists besides Clark that I trust,” He says. Peter’s pretty sure he just means Clark’s wife. 

“Yeah but Clark’s the one you have the biggest crush on,” Dick says with a shrug. 

“I do not have a crush on Clark Kent,” He denies. Peter pulls Jason’s hand off his face to see the skeptical looks on the faces of all of Bruce’s children. “He is a happily married man.” 

“Yeah…” Tim says slowly. “But you also had a fling with Lois Lane so it's not a stretch to assume that you’ve slept with both of them, likely at the same time. Hell until he started developing his powers we all had a betting pool on whether or not Jon was actually yours.” 

“What the fuck Tim,” Jason says with a disgusted look on his face. 

“What?” Tim looks confused. “It’s not like we weren’t all aware of it.” 

“That doesn’t mean I want to hear about my dad in a threesome with the god damned boy scout!” Jason keeps trying to free himself but Peter doesn’t budge. 

“Well he’s probably slept with at least one of my bio parents,” Tim shrugs. “Hell, I’ve never done a DNA test on myself so who knows? Peter back me up here!” 

“I don’t know…” Peter says. “He is my Grandpa so I’d rather not think about that either.” 

“Anyway,” Bruce says a bit louder, Peter thinks his eyes look a little bit misty and he seems to be struggling to hold himself together. “Clark will not be attending the gala, he’s currently on a mission. Peter, I’d like to have you and Damian fitted for new suits, and Alfred would like to go over etiquette with you both.” 

“Can I be excused from etiquette lessons?” Peter asks raising his hand. “Pepper gave me lessons before my first fundraising event for Stark Industries and I think I did pretty okay.” 

“Let’s err on the side of caution and have you take a refresher course at least,” Bruce says. Since he seems less inclined to run now Peter releases Jason and moves over to Tim pulling him into a one armed hug. 

“Tim will help me!” He says. “Won’t you Tim?” 

“Nah you’re on your own,” Tim says pushing him away. Peter clutches his hands over his heart. 

“I thought we were on the same side! Practically brothers!” 

“You can’t be my brother,” Tim says. 

“What why not?” 

“It’s Bruce’s fault,” Tim shrugs. Bruce looks startled like he’s not fully keeping up with the conversation. 

“How is it my fault?” He asks. 

“Because If Peter is your grandson and my brother then the family tree starts to look more like a family bush. He’d be like my brother-nephew and that’s weird.” 

“Oh so… So because you’re my son,” Bruce chokes out. 

“Exactly!” Tim says waving his hand at Bruce. “At least someone gets it. Bruce is my dad and your grandpa therefore I can only be your uncle.” 

“I think Jason’s my favorite uncle right now,” Peter says crossing his arms. 

“What about me!?” Damian yells offended. 

“Face it pipsqueak,” Jason says with a wicked grin. “I’m always gonna be the favorite.” Bruce drops down into one of the chairs and holds his head in his hand. Peter thinks they might have accidentally broken him. Damian leaps at Jason and the two start to move about the room as Jason dodges Damian’s attacks. While the others are distracted with their antics Peter shoots a web over Tim’s mouth to keep him quiet then wraps him up in more webs and throws him over his shoulder. 

“Nap time,” Peter says cheerfully as he lugs the struggling teen up the stairs to the manor, the sounds of Jason and Damian’s shouting following them. 

Chapter Text

Peter

The Martian Manhunter is dead. Nightwing had found his body suspended in the air while following up on a lead in New York. Peter had only met J'onn J'onzz briefly on his one trip to the watchtower just a few weeks before but it’s clear that he is someone all of the Bats trusted. Bruce is even quieter than he was before. He stays in the cave working away at the computer through the night. Even Dick’s seemingly endless cheer seems to have become muted. There’s more going on. Bruce isn’t telling them much but Peter and Tim had convinced Barbara to help them hack into the watchtower’s systems and they’d found that the Justice League was on high alert after the death of someone who was apparently a god, Orion. Barbara and Tim were shaken after that. 

Patrols increased for everyone and Peter found himself staying out later and later to assist them where he could. He was falling behind in his homework but it felt like a moot point when it seemed that the end of the world was once again upon him. He wondered how many times the world would nearly end in his lifetime. 

Some sort of field had been placed around the entire world. It seemed like most people couldn’t see it but Peter’s spider-sense knew it was there and it made his skin buzz constantly. Jason said that it was from the Green Lanterns. That they were investigating the death of the god. Peter could barely sleep with it there. The ‘something big’ that he’d been sensing was here. Whoever it was, was already on the planet. Making moves. Peter’s senses told him that the death of the god was somehow involved but no one had been able to find it yet. Peter was starting to feel frantic. 

“Peter?” Bruce’s voice brings him back down to the present. He blinks as he looks around him. He’d come back to the Batcave with Tim after they’d patrolled together, mostly with the determination to get Tim into a bed because he was starting to look more like a zombie than Jason. He’d webbed Tim onto a couch in the manor and then returned to the Batcave to find something to fiddle with. Peter’s eyes feel dry so he rubs at them as he looks up at Bruce. 

“You’re supposed to be sleeping,” Peter tells him. 

“So should you Peter, you have school in a few hours,” Bruce tells him, his eyes moving over the project Peter had been working on. “What’s this?” Peter eyes the device in front of him. It’s not finished. It’s far from finished, Peter doesn’t even remember starting it actually. He’d thought, briefly, that he might be able to rework technology from his own world into something that would allow universe travel. But he hadn’t thought that it would actually work so he hadn’t meant to build it. But in front of him was clearly the beginnings of a Quantum tunnel. 

“Quantum tunnel,” Peter says, stifling a yawn. 

“Quantum tunnel,” Bruce repeats, sounding intrigued. “Did you design that on your own?” 

“No it’s a copy,” He picks up the screwdriver he’d been holding and tightens up the screw that was sitting loose. “Hank Pym designed it. I’ve seen the blueprints before, only briefly. I think I need Pym particles for it to work though. Gotta figure out the formula.” 

“Does Jason know you’re still here?” Bruce asks. Peter reaches for the next screw.

“I don’t remember,” he admits. 

“I’ll send him a text,” Bruce says. He crouches down and takes the screwdriver from Peter’s hand. “I think it’s time for both of us to be going to bed. I’ll call you out of school tomorrow so you can sleep in.”

“Mmm, have a quiz in chemistry,” Peter says. He lets Bruce pull him to his feet and lets himself be led toward the elevator. He yawns again and leans into Bruce’s warmth. 

“We’ll get you a doctor’s note so you can make it up,” Bruce promises

“You gonna sleep too?” Peter asks. 

“For a bit. We’re making arrangements for J’onn’s funeral today. We’ll be bringing his body and his ancestral home back to Mars.” 

“I’ve never been to Mars,” Peter says, he doesn’t remember moving but he feels the lift of the elevator. 

“You’re a part of the family Peter, you’re welcome to join us on the trip,” Bruce lifts him up into his arms and Peter considers objecting but Bruce is warm and Peter can’t remember how long it’s been since he slept. 

“Didn’t know Mister J’onnz, would be rude,” Peter mumbles. 

“I think that your presence would bring comfort to Dick and Tim,” Bruce says. “But you’re not obligated to attend.” 

“Who’s gonna watch Gotham?” Peter’s not sure if the words actually come out. 

“Jason offered,” Bruce says as he lays Peter down on a bed. Peter opens his eyes and looks around the room he’s in. The bed is huge, a king at least. The sheets are soft and silky and Peter melts into the soft mattress. 

“Steph too,” Peter remembers. 

“Steph?” Bruce asks.

“Mhmm new opera ghost. Cass said she could share,” He can’t keep his eyes open anymore so he lets them stay closed. 

“Steph too then,” Bruce says as he slips Peter’s shoes off his feet and then tucks the blanket around him. Peter’s asleep before Bruce moves from his bedside. 

When he wakes in the morning, or rather the afternoon, it’s to the sound of the curtains being opened and the smell of breakfast. Peter rubs the sleep from his eyes and watches Alfred as he moves about the room, hanging a change of clothes outside the closet door for him. A tray sits on the bedside table with a plate of breakfast food and a large glass of orange juice on it. 

“Good afternoon Master Peter,” Alfred says. Peter sits up and pushes his hair out of his face before propping up his pillows and leaning his back against them. 

“Morning Mister Pennyworth,” He says. 

“I have placed a toothbrush on the bathroom counter for you and Master Tim has selected some clothing you can borrow. You will find several hygiene options in the bathroom as well.” 

“I don’t remember going to sleep here,” Peter admits. 

“I thought you might not. Master Bruce said he found you working in the cave after five in the morning. He brought you to bed.” 

“That was nice of him,” Peter pulls the tray onto his lap and takes a drink of the orange juice. 

“You haven’t been caring for yourself,” Alfred says with a scolding tone. 

“It’s the green thing,” Peter admits. “Makes my spider sense all wonky. Can’t sleep if I don’t feel safe. Well, til I collapse from exhaustion apparently. Actually, I didn’t know I could still do that.” 

“You didn’t?” Alfred asks. 

“The bite changed me, sometimes it feels like I’m still changing. But I sleep less now, maybe three or four hours on average unless I’m not getting enough food or I’m injured. Powers take a lot out of me. But on the plus side I don’t seem to get sick anymore,” Peter scoops a spoonful of eggs into his mouth. 

“As interesting as that is, I do not recommend continuing to test your limits through poor self care,” Alfred says. “Master Jason is aware of your presence here. He  has agreed to join us for dinner tonight for the discussion of the plan for the nighttime extracurriculars while the rest of you are out of town.” 

“He really agreed to come to dinner?” 

“I assume that he, like the rest of us, is concerned about your well being. A united front and all that. Master Timothy has agreed to collect your schoolwork for you today. I suggest you take it easy today and allow your body time to rest,” Alfred gives him a stern look and then heads for the door. 

“Hey Alfred?” Peter says. 

“Yes, Master Peter?” 

“Won’t it be weird? Me going to the funeral?” 

“J'onn J'onzz was a very well loved and well respected member of the cape community. I expect he shall have a very large turnout. I do not think anyone would find it amiss of you attending with your family.”

“With my family,” Peter repeats the words. He realizes that it might be true. Sure he’s only been in this universe for a few months but the Wayne’s had taken him. They’d accepted him right away. Jason had hardly even hesitated to take him under his wing and help him to survive Gotham. Tim was his best friend here, their brains worked in nearly the same way and when they worked together on their experiments it was like having another version of himself. Peter had always been the youngest of the heroes he’d spent time with. But here there were so many his own age. Patrols were an entirely different thing with Tim, Steph, and Cass around. They were serious about it, of course, they did their duties but they could have fun while they did it. They laughed at Peter’s quips and played pranks on each other. Damian was young, too young probably to start being a hero even with his unconventional upbringing but Peter liked him even when he was being a brat. He seemed to accept Peter fully despite the odd circumstances around his joining the family.

Dick was a little bit more complicated. Peter could never seem to figure out how to feel about Dick. They were close of course, but Peter had a complicated relationship with father figures and Dick was literally his dad even if their ages didn’t really work out for that. But Dick took it in stride. He didn’t push Peter one way or another. He gave him space when he needed it. He made sure that Peter was cared for. Not to mention he seemed to share Peter’s need for physical touch. Maybe it was genetics, or maybe it stemmed from their mutual trauma of losing their parents at an early age. Peter wondered if it was okay to consider Dick his dad or if that would put him in danger. Did the Parker luck extend to him just because they were genetically related or would it only happen if Peter let himself accept Dick fully? He didn’t know and he was afraid to find out. All of them, his new family, were all heroes, but that hadn’t kept Tony safe. That hadn’t kept Natasha safe. 

Peter didn’t even know where to start with Bruce. He’d never had a grandfather in his old world. His mom's parents had died before he was born, as had his Grandpa Parker. Then his Grandma Parker passed shortly after Peter’s birth. Six people, if you counted his dad's birth parents, were gone before Peter could ever get to know them. It was clear that all of Bruce’s kids, except for Cass, had issues with him in one way or another. Jason the most of all and Damian who was just getting to know his father for the first time at eight years old. Bruce had been nothing but kind so far but Peter was just a tad hesitant to get too close. He liked Alfred though, everyone seemed to like Alfred. 

“Master Peter,” Alfred says from the doorway. Peter blinks at him. 

“Yes, Mr Pennyworth?” 

“This family has never been conventional, as I’m sure you’ve learned by now. It is made up of an amalgamation of people from all walks of life. But it is a family and you are a part of it.” 

“Yeah,” Peter agrees with a small smile on his face. He can have this. He can be part of a family again. Tony wouldn’t want him to be alone. Aunt May would be proud of him for reaching out to others for help. Peter has lost his home, he’s lost the family that he was born with. But here in this world, he was making a new life for himself. A new home for himself. Something big was coming but Peter wouldn’t be facing it alone and he knew that he’d stand by the rest of the family to face whatever it was that was coming. He wouldn’t mess up this time. He wouldn’t fail this world like he did his last one. 

Peter finishes his food after Alfred leaves the room and sets the tray on the nightstand before grabbing the clothes and going into the bathroom. The bathroom is ridiculously huge. Peter’s pretty sure it’s as big as the bedroom he’d had back in Queens. `He takes a long time in the shower, letting himself take in the luxuries that the manor has to offer that the Opera house never really could. Once he’s out and dressed he makes his way out of the bedroom and down to the family room where he can hear the chatter of a tv. He finds Damian and Bruce both there. They’re sitting on opposite sides of the couch with their eyes focused on the TV. Peter’s pretty sure neither of them is actually watching it though. 

“Morning,” Peter says cheerfully as he drops down into an armchair.

“Good afternoon, Peter,” Bruce says with amusement in his voice. Damian scoffs and crosses his arms. 

“It’s about time you stopped lazing about,” He spits. Clearly, him and Bruce are having one of their bad days. Alfred must have sent both of them in here in an attempt to get them to bond. Peter gets it, he does. It’s got to be hard for Damian and Bruce both. Bruce who lost eight years with his son, Damian who lost eight years with his father and got raised in what’s sounding more and more like some kind of cult whenever Peter learns more about it. He thinks that Bruce might be trying to give Damian a normal childhood but that goes against everything the kids ever known. Damian barely knows how to be a normal human in the real world. 

“Bruce, can I take Damian out for a bit?” He has an idea but he doesn’t know if Bruce is going to go for it. 

“Out where?” Bruce asks.

“Yes,” Damian sits up straighter, “Let us go out.” 

“Well,” Peter hesitates. “I was figuring since I got a lot of sleep last night and there’s still a few hours until school lets out that maybe I could take him out on patrol with me? I know you said no the other day but if you think about it then really it’s not a bad idea. I mean I hardly ever deal with anything messy during the day and I think it’ll be good for Damian to learn how to help people the way I do. Don’t you?” Bruce opens his mouth to argue but he’s interrupted by Alfred clearing his throat. The three of them turn to see him standing in the doorway, a folded suit in his arms. 

“I presumed that these events would take place,” Alfred says. “Master Damian I have prepared clothing for you to wear while out. Though it is not stylized as of just yet since you do not have a moniker to base it on.” Damian leaps off the couch and hurries over to take the suit from Alfred’s arms. He holds it up in front of himself to look it over. It’s a simple enough suit, black and white with no markings on it. 

“Alfred,” Bruce is exasperated but Peter knows that with Alfred on his side, he’s definitely won. 

“We won’t even stop any crime,” Peter promises. “Just helping the people of Gotham.” 

“Then what’s even the point?” Damian asks. Peter shoots him a look. 

“You wouldn’t be looking for crime?” Bruce asks. 

“Nope, not even a little bit. Just some community service vigilante style.” 

“Father please allow me to go with Parker,” Damian says. Bruce frowns as his eyes dart between the three of them. Peter can see him about to break. They’ve definitely won. Bruce lets out a defeated sigh and slumps back on the couch for just a moment before sitting straight once again. 

“Only for a few hours,” He says. “I expect you both back here at the manor by the time Tim returns from school.” 

“Yes!” Peter jumps up and wraps his arms around Damian swinging him around a bit. 

“Unhand me at once you heathen!” Damian yells as he struggles to get free. 

“You have to listen to Peter, Damian,” Bruce says sternly. “You go where he says to go and you do what he says to do.” 

“I am his uncle, he should have to listen to me,” Damian complains. Peter grins as he sets him back down on his feet. 

“I’m older,” Peter reminds him. “I’ll race you to the cave.” Peter takes off for the secret entrance and hears Damian cursing as he chases after him. 

“I’m going to regret this,” Bruce says. 

Chapter Text

Peter

“Okay I’ve got it,” Peter says as he jumps from one rooftop to the next, “What about Eggspress Justice?”

“That’s even worse than the last three,” Damian grumbles as he follows. “Why do you insist on these ridiculous egg themed titles?” 

“Because before you have a Robin you have an egg!” Peter reminds him. The next two buildings are a little further apart so Peter picks up his speed, making sure that Damian does the same so he can clear the jump. Peter lands on his feet but Damian has to tuck and roll.

“It is only a matter of time before Father gives me the Robin title. I do not see the need to pick something else before then.” 

“Shellshock?” Peter wonders. “No that sounds a little too electric. Oh pokemon! Exeggcute? Oh wait no you might take that one a little too literally.” 

“Park-”

“Names!” Peter reminds him. He hops down onto a fire escape and makes his way down the normal way so Damian can keep up. 

“Spider-man,” Damian says through gritted teeth. “Your taste is terrible.” 

“Fine fine no egg names. Oh how about a little bird themed one,” Peter jumps to the ground and waits til he hears Damian land as well before heading out onto the street. “Can’t be Little Wing because that’s Nightwing’s name for Red Hood. Baby bird is taken too.”

“I’d almost prefer wasting away at home if it meant I didn’t have to listen to your endless blathering,” Damian grumbles. Peter ignores him as he jumps up the front steps to an apartment complex and presses the button for one of the buzzers. 

“Nestling?” Peter asks.

“No,” Damian bites out. 

“Who is it?” A voice calls over the intercom. 

“Hi Mrs Charlston, It’s Spider-man!” 

“Oh, Spider-man!” Her cheerful voice calls up. “Come on inside!” There’s a buzz as the front door is unlocked and Peter pulls it open, gesturing for Damian to go inside. Damian stops through and wrinkles his nose as he takes in the state of the apartment lobby. 

“Why does it smell like that?” He asks. 

“Mold mostly,” Peter says as he heads up the stairs. 

“What are we doing here?” Damian asks. 

“Mrs Charlston has mobility issues. She lives on the fifth floor and the elevator has been busted for months,” Peter explains. “How about Hatchling?”

“No. What does a broken elevator have to do with us?” 

“Mrs Charlston can’t get out of the apartment on her own with the elevator broken. You of all people should know how hard it can be to be trapped somewhere.” 

“Why would she remain in this… building if she does not possess the ability to leave when she wants?” 

“Because not everyone has the means to do that D. Besides this is her home. She’s lived here since she was a little girl,” Peter stops at the correct door and knocks lightly before opening it and sticking his head inside. “It’s me Ma’am don’t shoot! I brought a guest with me today.” 

“Welcome Spider-man,” Mrs Charlston says as she stows her shotgun back underneath the table. Peter’s told her several times that he fixed the lock on the front entrance but she’s still cautious about who enters her apartment. Her face lights up when she spots Damian still standing in the hallway. “Well, now who is this little fellow?” 

“We’re workshopping some names still,” Peter says as he reaches out and pulls Damian inside before closing the door. “He’s family though. He’s learning the business.” 

“I always said you bats start out too young,” Mrs Charlston shakes her head as she grabs hold of her walker and makes her way to the kitchen. “Well let’s get some cookies in you both before  I put you to work. I made those Snickerdoodles you liked so much last time.” 

“They smell delicious!” Peter says. He guides Damian around a stack of newspapers and has him sit at the small dining table. Mrs Charlston comes back holding the plate of cookies in one hand. Peter moves quickly to take it for her and sets it on the table before pulling out the other chair and helping her sit in it. Damian eyes the cookies curiously and Peter gives him a nod. Damian grabs a cookie and starts to nibble on it. 

“How old are you then, boy?” Mrs Charlston asks Damian. 

“I’m thirteen,” He says confidently. Mrs Charlston snorts out a laugh and pushes the plate closer to him. “Well eat up then. You’re much too small for your age. Just like that second Robin. He was a crime alley boy that one. Through and through.” 

“Oh he still is,” Peter promises her. “He’s doing things his own way now.”

“He is?” She asks, her voice tinged with surprise. “The way he disappeared everyone thought he’d… well y’know. Especially with the way the Bat got right after. Then of course he showed up with a new one.” 

“He was gone for a bit. Joker got him real good.” 

“What’s he go by now? I assume he’s running around with one of those masks on again.” 

“Erm, well… He’s going by Red Hood,” He admits. Mrs Charlston bursts into laughter and slams her hand on the table. 

“See! What did I tell you, he’s a crime alley boy through and through! They learn young around here, you ain’t going to win anything by being soft. You gotta fight for what you want,” She gets to her feet and makes her way back to the kitchen. “I’m gonna bag up some cookies for him. You make sure they make it alright?” 

“Of course, he’d skin me alive if I didn’t,” Peter grins and gets to his feet going to meet her in the kitchen. He puts the cookies carefully into his utility belt and then snags the grocery list off of her fridge. “Anything else you need to add to this?” 

“No that should be alright,” She peeks around the corner into the dining room where Damian still sits. He’s spotted the cat in the living room and the eyes of his domino mask have gone comically wide. “He’s a youngin.” 

“He is,” Peter agrees. 

“Why do you lot got him out here already? I know you’re young yourself but surely not that young.” 

“Sometimes, it’s the only option. Kids like us need to be able to help do good. I got my powers at thirteen and I went out there on my own and made a lot of mistakes. But I found a mentor who listened to me and taught me how to keep myself safe and to be better. I want to be able to pass that on. We don’t have him crime fighting. Hopefully, he won’t have to do that for several more years, but he’s had a rough start and he needs to see the good in Gotham. Needs to learn to love it and the people within it so one day, when he takes up his birthright he’ll know what exactly it is he’s fighting for.” 

“You kids these days always have such noble ideas,” She sighs. Peter watches as Damian gets up from his chair and crouches down to carefully approach the cat his hand held out. 

“People need to have hope for the future and if I can give them that with my powers then I’ll be able to sleep peacefully at night,” Peter shrugs and slips her shopping list into his belt. “Hey, you still talk to your sister on Wednesdays, right? Wendy, the one in the country?” 

“Yeah, she talks my ear off for a couple hours each week.” 

“Maybe, maybe you should give her a call today. See if she’d be up for you going to visit her.” 

“You know I can’t get around good enough for a visit like that,” she frowns at him. 

“We can arrange transportation for you, first class flight via Kryptonian if you want. Probably Boy, not Man. Or a speedster? Flash is basically my step dad so he’d do that if I asked.” 

“What are you trying to get me out of the city for?” 

“I don’t know,” Peter admits. “We don’t know.” 

“I’ve survived a lot in my day Spider-man, I’m not about to run away scared.” 

“I think… I think this is the kind of thing that taking shelter up in your apartment is going to keep you safe from Ma’am. I think getting out of the city for a bit would be a good idea. I’ll keep it safe for you. It’ll be right here waiting for you when this is all over I promise.” 

“I’ve got the cats,” She says. 

“I can take care of the cats,” Damian offers. Somehow he’s coaxed the other cats out of hiding and now has four cats attempting to all fit into his lap. 

“See, cats will be in good hands.” 

“There’s a lotta folk in this city that won’t have nowhere safe to go.”

“It’s our job to protect Gotham and its people. We’ll do what we can.” 

“Alright, let me think about it. Maybe give me a few days. Do I have a few days?” Her eyes dart around the apartment taking in the belongings. She’d never had much, and she lost a lot of it a few years before in an earthquake. Peter knows that it won’t be easy to get her to agree to leave. Knows there’s a very high chance of her choosing to stay even if it means she dies here in her home. 

“Yeah I think a few days should be good,” Peter touches her shoulder gently and then extracts Damian from the pile of cats before heading out of the apartment. Their day continues like that. Peter takes Damian along his normal routes, stopping in to help with anything they can. Damian is absolutely delighted about the amount of animals they meet along the way. Every dog and cat and bird and one very large lizard get his nearly undivided attention. Peter decides that once things settle down he’s going to try and help Damian convince Alfred and Bruce to let the kid get a pet. 

“What about an owl?” Peter asks. They’re in Robinson Park now jumping from lamp post to lamp post as a training exercise of sorts. It’s an easy move for Peter but the old styled lamp posts don’t provide a lot of space for someone without sticky powers to get a solid balance and the distance between them is just at the edge of Damian’s range without too big of a drop below. 

“That’s a terrible idea. Have you not read Father’s case file?” Damian asks as he makes the jump. He gets a pretty steady landing so Peter webs a stick up off the ground and throws it at Damian, making him have to jump to the next one before fully gaining his footing. He manages to make it but has to grab onto the lamp with his hands as well. 

“Nope,” Peter shrugs. “How about Chickadee? They’re cute little yellow birds so it would totally be on brand.” 

“That’s idiotic.” Damian stands up straight and crosses his arms. “If my only choice is something ridiculous then I would rather remain nameless until Father and Nightwing see the error of their ways and have the sense to declare me Robin.” 

“Dick was Robin until college,” Peter reminds him. “You can’t just bully your way into the title.” He jumps down to the ground and catches a kid's ball before it goes into the flower bed on the side of the path. He tosses the ball back and then looks up at Damian. 

“I am the blood son,” Damian reminds him. “Drake isn’t even- Look out!!” 

Damian’s voice cries out at the same time that Peter’s spider sense does. He jumps into a backflip barely avoiding the vine that had nearly closed around his ankles. The plants are moving all of a sudden. The flowers are growing larger and larger. Peter has to move quickly as vines shoot out all around and try to grab him. 

“Spider-man!” Damian draws his sword from his back and Peter shoots out a web to stick his feet to the top of the lamp post. 

“Stay out of it!” Peter orders him. Peter had done his research. He’d listened to the many lectures by all of the bats. The plants coming alive like this is clearly the work of Poison Ivy and Peter doesn’t know how his abilities will be affected by the poisons she’s fond of and he especially does not want Damian in range of any of them. “Karen, someone needs to come get Damian!” 

“I have sent out an alert Peter, Spoiler is en route,” Karen replies. Peter lands on a park sign and looks around. It seems that the whole park has come to life. There’s chaos and screaming as people flee from the living plants. 

“Spider-man I can help!” Damian yells. Peter hopes that he’ll be safe. All of the Bat's info said that Ivy wasn’t senselessly violent or anything and didn’t usually attack children. He just had to hope that that extended to masked children until Steph could join him. He scans around the park until he finally spots a flash of long red hair. Poison Ivy emerges from the wooded area of the park. Flowers and other plants grow beneath her feet as she walks. Her eyes land on Damian first as he tries to cut away at the webs. Peter jumps to the light post beside Damian’s. 

“Hello, Doctor Isley! Lovely day for a walk in the park isn’t it?” He calls as he waves to get her attention. She turns her gaze to him with an amused look on her face, and Peter has to pause for just a second as he takes her in. Because the woman standing in front of him is Natasha. Natasha with green skin and a leafy green bodysuit but it’s definitely her. 

“I see The bat has robbed another nursery,” She says, sounding upset as she takes in Peter and Damian’s appearances. “Fledglings aren’t supposed to leave the nest you know.” 

“Oh, Fledgling!” Peter jumps off the lamp post to dodge an attack from behind. “Hey, that's not nice! I thought we were just having a chat.” 

“You are not calling me Fledgling,” Damian says. 

“No no, no come on, it's perfect. Doctor Isley, don’t you think it’s perfect? I’ve been workshopping names all day.” 

“Sorry kiddies I’d love to play but I’ve got much more important things to do. You’ll have to play with my children,” Ivy says. Vines shoot at Peter from all directions. He moves quickly flipping this way and that as he avoids them. The plants grow taller and Peter can see them starting to spill out of the park and into Gotham. Peter’s running out of places to land without harming the plants and from what he’s read damaging plants is one thousand percent the worst way to piss off Ivy. He dodges another vine and lands with one hand on the ground but there’s nowhere to put his feet without stepping on the still growing plants. 

“Hey, little help? Like I’m sure whatever your issue is it's honestly probably valid. I mean I’m all about saving the environment myself. Ya know, kinda important for spiders. Also, my girlfriend, she’d like slaughter me if I ever sided with the toxic waste dumping megamillionaires,” Peter pushes himself up into the air as a carnivorous looking plant tries to take a bite out of him. He shoots a web and manages to pull himself back up onto the top of a light post. “Also women in STEM, super important.” He glances to the side as a flash of purple catches his eye. Spoiler lands beside Damian on the light post.

“I do not need your help,” Damian snaps at her. 

“Aw little baby birdie missed his naptime,” She says teasingly. Peter grabs a bottle of web solvent from his belt and tosses it over to her before jumping to a post closer to Ivy. 

“Sorry little Spider, I’ve got a meeting to keep.” Natasha, no Ivy. Peter has to remember that. Sure take away the green skin and the plant powers and she’d definitely be Natasha but clearly, she never became Natasha here in this world. Is this what would have become of Natasha in his own world if she hadn't been raised by the Red Room? Peter will have to look into her more. 

“Okay yeah sure,” Peter swings over and drops onto the top of a fountain in her path that hasn’t been wrecked yet. “Meetings are important. It’s just… your lovely plants are kinda like messing things up?” 

“Calling in backup already?” 

“Oh no, just a pickup for the Fledgling. You know how kids can be… or not. I don’t know your life, but like… The flowers are lovely really, but people gotta make a living and it’s hard to do that when you jumanji the roads. 

“Did you call him Fledgling?” Steph asks as she works on dissolving the webs on Damian’s feet. 

“Stop trying to give me ridiculous names! I don’t need to be rescued like some kind of child.” 

“That’s so fucking cute. I’m definitely telling everyone.” 

“Isn’t it?” Peter asks. He jumps off the fountain as roots come up from the ground and shatter the stone. He manages to make it onto the top of a swing set. “Doctor Isley came up with it!” 

“You’re cute, little Spider,” Ivy says as her vines lift her up and bring her closer to Peter. He braces himself but he doesn’t move yet. If he can avoid this turning into a real fight then maybe they can avoid any more issues. 

“I have my moments,” He retracts his full mask down to just the domino and flashes a grin at her. “But like, you know maybe we could move your meeting to the park? Or a greenhouse? There’s gotta be a greenhouse in this city somewhere. Is the plant growing compulsive? Can you control it or does it just happen? Because I could totally swing you to your meeting place if you need to avoid stepping on the ground.” 

“Why would I ever want to contain such a gift?” She asks. Peter really hates it when the rogues make a little bit of sense. How is he supposed to keep the moral high ground when they’re doing shit like trying to save the planet. Really annoying. 

“Okay, I get that I do, but like again, the normal everyday people of Gotham are just trying to live their lives you know? Get to work and school, have a place to live.” 

“Spider-man,” Oracle’s voice comes through his comms, “Spoiler has extracted Fledgling, and Robin and Nightwing are three minutes out. Watch out for Ivy’s spores.” 

“Stop calling me that!” Damian’s voice chimes in. Oracle must have patched Peter into the all bats channel. 

“Uh oh,” Peter says looking at Ivy apologetically. “It’s been super lovely to meet you. Great actually. I’m more of a Biology guy than a Botany guy myself but I’ve read some of your research documents. But my rides here.” 

“Leaving so soon little spider?” She asks. “Allow me to leave you with a parting gift.” She blows out and a powder with a reddish hue clouds in front of his face. Peter holds his breath and lets himself tip backward off the top of the swing set. He shoots out a web and grabs onto Robin as he swings by. The momentum is just enough to them both onto the arch over the park entryway. There’s definitely still powder on Peter’s suit so he keeps his breath held. 

“Ivy!” Nightwing calls out, standing with his hands on his hips on the ground beneath them. “I thought we talked about this?” 

“Well hi there boy wonder, I was hoping you’d come out to play,” Ivy says. Robin pulls what looks like a wipe out of his belt. He turns Peter’s face in his direction and carefully wipes off the powder. 

“Looks like cuddle powder,” Tim says softly. “How much have you breathed in?” 

Peter shakes his head, attention shifting between Tim beside him and Nightwing and Ivy’s conversation. 

“None?” Tim confirms. He frowns and looks at Peter more closely. “You aren’t breathing. How long can you hold your breath?” Peter can only shrug. He’s certainly got more lung capacity than a normal human. He’s pretty sure the human record for holding breath is around like 24 minutes or something but Peter hasn’t actually trained himself for it though. 

“Okay, we need to properly decontaminate you,” Tim types on his wrist computer, and already Peter can hear the sound of the Batplane speeding towards them. “Nightwing, I’m getting Spider-man back to the cave. He hasn’t breathed yet but we don’t have an estimate of how long he can hold it.” 

“Alright, get him out of here,” Dick says back. Tim grabs a hold of Peter and shoots a grappling hook up just in time to snag it on the Batplane. Peter remembers doing the exact same thing from the roof of Titan’s tower. He and Tim climb inside of the plane and buckle into the seats as the autopilot takes them back to the cave. Peter’s lungs are starting to feel the strain and he really curses himself for not practicing more. He’d almost drowned in a lake for Christ's sake, how could he not have practiced after that? 

He manages to hold his breath until they’ve made it into the cave but he’s pretty desperate for air as Tim pulls him out of the batplane. A decontamination shower has already been erected right beside the landing spot so Peter hurries into it and turns on the water. He lets the water run over him for as long as he can before taking a large gasping breath of air. 

“Can you even be affected by pollen?” Steph asks. Peter takes off his mask and hands it off to Tim. 

“No clue,” He admits with a shrug, “But I’ve read what it can do and I’m not exactly eager to find out you know?” 

“Allowing her to get that close to you was an amateur mistake,” Damian says with his arms crossed. 

“Oh like you would have done any better,” Steph flicks Damian’s head and then jumps back with a laugh as he swipes at her with a dagger. 

“Master Damian, let’s leave the sharp weapons for the enemies shall we?” Alfred says as he joins them, a towel and a change of clothes in his hands. Cass plucks the dagger from Damian’s hand and heads towards the armory. 

“Cain!” Damian shouts as he runs after her. 

“Nice to see nothing here in the cave has changed,” Steph says as she looks around. 

“Oh yeah, you haven’t been back here since you came back to life huh?” Peter asks. He hands his utility belt to Tim as well and then groans at the thought of getting out of his suit while it’s soaking wet. 

“You have to actually die in order to come back to life,” Tim says. He hasn’t really forgiven her yet for the whole thing. 

“You’re just jealous that you don’t get to be a ghost yet,” Steph snarks back at him. 

“Oh yeah, boo hoo I’m so upset I haven’t died yet,” Tim rolls his eyes and then pulls the curtain around the shower so Steph’s view is blocked. 

“Let’s try to keep it that way,” Bruce comes down the stairs wearing a suit. If Peter’s not mistaken he’d had some sort of board meeting today. He must have just returned. Peter finds the hidden zipper on his suit and works on getting out of it. “Peter you’re alright?” 

“Yep, right as rain. Doctor Isley seems nice for a rogue,” Peter dries off quickly and then pulls on the clothes Alfred brought for him. 

“She has her moments,” Bruce agrees. “How did Damian handle things before then?” 

“He really really likes animals and old people really really like pinching his cheeks,” Peter grins. “He only threatened one of them for it too!” 

“It's an improvement,” Bruce says with a frown on his face. Peter considers the older man. 

“So have I proven myself yet?” he asks. Bruce’s frown deepens as he looks down at Peter.

“What do you mean?” 

“You’re underutilizing me as a part of this team. I know that working the day shift was my idea. I appreciated the chance to get back to the swing of things and remember my roots, but with everything going on you’re going to need me and my abilities. I’m not human anymore. I’ve got powers and I’ve got combat training. You’ve even trained me on the detective work side of things. But every time I work the night shift with you guys you pull me away from the fights with the heavy hitters.” 

“That’s not true,” Bruce says. 

“It is,” Peter says, crossing his arms. “Three nights ago when penguins attacked the museum in the diamond district you sent me and Tim to the sewers to look for Killer Croc, but Batwoman had already handled him. And don’t think I didn’t notice that the day you had Wally and Dick bring me to Central City there was also a breakout in Arkham. I’ve been going along with it because I understand, I’m new so you don’t know all my strengths and weaknesses yet and you’re still figuring out the whole Grandfather thing. But this isn’t the first time that I’ve been on a team. I was an Avenger in my world. One of Earth's mightiest heroes. I fought Thanos the mad Titan on his home planet and I fought in the final battle on Earth. I’m young but I’ve got the experience.” 

“Ooo called out,” Steph whispers to Tim, who tries to keep a frown on his face but his lips tick up anyway. 

“Peter,” Bruce starts. 

“Do we need to fight?” Peter asks, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the training rooms. “You trained mostly everyone else and if you didn’t then you know the people that trained them. But you don’t have that for me. Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Happy Hogan, The Falcon, Daredevil. They were my teachers but their names don’t mean anything to you. So let’s fight. Until you’re confident in my abilities. I let you pull me out today 'cause it’s important to present a united front but I’m not going to let you do it forever.” 

“I… Apologize Peter,” Bruce says. He looks like it pained him to say that. 

“I don’t need an apology. I need you to spar with me,” Peter heads to the training rooms, pulling his web shooters off his wrists as he goes. “No webs, but I’m going to use my powers. I won’t hold back and I expect you not to either." Bruce hums and follows him. Tim and Steph share a look and then run after them, Tim’s phone already in his hand as he sends a message out to the Bruce free group chat. 

Bruce ditches his shoes on the side of the training mat as Peter makes his way over to the supplies and grabs some tape for his hands. He doesn’t expect to win the fight. He’s studied Bruce’s fighting styles, he’s sparred with Jason and Tim and seen it reflected in them. But Bruce has been doing this the longest of any of them. He’s trained himself to go up against super powered people. Back in his world, the Avenger’s campus had the most sophisticated training facilities available. Peter’s favorite feature was a holographic training area where any of the heroes or villains could be used as training dummies. Peter pictures himself in this room now. He takes his position on the mat and waits for Bruce to do the same. Peter flicks through the training programs in his mind. There were different levels for each fighter of course. Peter settles on Bucky Barnes. He has the biggest mixture of fighting styles and while he is a mutate Peter’s pretty sure he and Bruce would be the closest match. 

Bruce takes his own position facing Peter and motions for him to make the first move. Peter crouches down because he knows that it throws people off. His abilities give him an advantage of unnatural movement that’s hard for people to follow and he’s learned to adapt the moves that he’s been taught into his own. Bruce is probably the one person the most equipped to handle fighting Peter though. Dick’s flexibility and gymnastics are similar to Peter’s and Bruce has had over a decade of fighting by Dick’s side. Peter launches himself forward and the fight begins. 

Fighting with Bruce almost feels like a dance at first, anticipating each other's moves. Despite being mostly bulk Bruce’s movements are still surprisingly quick and fluid. Peter finds himself relying heavily on his spider sense to keep Bruce’s hits from landing. He’s almost immediately on the defensive, flipping and twisting his body to avoid the hits. Normally Peter would be blurting out as many jokes and quips as he could think of but He finds himself actually needing to put a good deal of thought into the fight, he’s not completely sure how much of his strength Bruce can handle. So he works to figure it out while they fight. He springs back onto his hands and kicks forward, both feet hitting Bruce in the chest and sending him flying across the mat. 

For just a second Peter thinks he might have been too hard but Bruce is back on his feet in seconds and jolting forward again. It helps Peter judge a little better and he adjusts his strength as he throws his first punch. Apparently, that’s what Bruce was waiting for too. His fighting style shifts and it’s like fighting a whole different person. 

“Dinner shall be served within the hour,” Alfred says. Peter’s just flipped himself over Bruce to avoid a punch, He doesn’t know how long they’ve been sparring for. He drops to the ground and takes a deep breath in and lets it out. He could go longer, he’s a little sore but he can already tell that his healing factor is taking care of any spots that might be bruised. Bruce drops down beside him and lays back. He’s sweaty and breathing heavily. 

“So who won?” Steph asks, 

“Bruce got in more hits but Peter’s clearly got the stamina to keep going longer,” Tim says with a shrug.

“Tie?” Dick suggests. 

“Peter definitely would have won,” Jason insists. 

“In a real fight Peter would have lost,” Steph says. 

“Please have you ever seen Peter give up on anything? I’m pretty sure that kid could have broken bones and he would still get up and fight,” Jason says. Peter definitely does not admit that he has in fact fought with broken bones before. It would certainly end in another uproar like the fiasco after they found out about his blood. 

“You’re not bad for a scrawny guy,” A new voice says. Peter thinks that she might have arrived with Jason but no one else seems worried about her presence in the cave so she must be someone they all know. 

“Oh Hi,” Peter says, rolling backward onto his feet. 

“So you must be the Spider I’ve been hearing about,” She says as she stands up and walks over offering her hand. Peter gives her a smile as he shakes it. 

“Kate,” Bruce says as he gets to his feet as well. 

“Hey old man,” Kate says with a grin, “I hear you’re a grandfather now.” 

“Apparently,” Bruce says. Dick offers him a towel and Bruce accepts it gratefully then wipes the sweat off his face. 

“Batwoman,” Steph whispers as she slings her arm around Peter’s shoulders. Peter blinks and looks at Kate once again. He’s seen Batwoman briefly while out on patrol with the rest of the bats. She doesn’t seem to hang around them too much and does her own thing. But the times that Peter had seen her she’d had long red hair. Kate’s hair is indeed red but it’s much shorter than when she’s in uniform and not as vibrant. 

“Peter, this is my cousin Kate Kane. Kate, this is my grandson, Peter,” Bruce introduces them. Steph lets go of Peter and folds her hands behind her head. 

“And unless it’s changed since I died then Kate is also the reigning Mario kart champion,” Steph adds. 

“I’m the champion now actually,” Tim says smugly. 

“Please you’re only the champion because my controller died,” Jason snaps at him. 

“Excuses excuses,” Tim waves him off and then ducks as Jason swings at him. 

“Boys,” Bruce scolds.

“I can’t believe you all waste time with such childish pursuits,” Damian scoffs. 

“Oh,” Kate says as she spots him for the first time sitting in a slightly darker corner of the room. “You must be the Fledgling.” 

“No!” Damian shouts as he gets to his feet. “I refuse to answer such an asinine name.” 

“It does kinda fit you little D,” Dick says. “A bird that hasn’t learned how to fly yet.” 

“Tt ridiculous,” Damian crosses his arms and looks away from them. 

“Let’s get cleaned up for dinner,” Bruce says clearly hoping to avoid another fight. 

“Then after we eat I can remind you all why I’m the champion,” Kate teases. 

Chapter Text

Tim

“Tim, do you have a moment? I want to speak with you,” Bruce says. Tim looks up from his homework and nods his head. He’d gotten distracted watching Peter and Bruce spar earlier and completely forgot about his history essay.

“Sure B,” he meets Dick’s gaze but the older man just shrugs, which he really shouldn't be able to do in the weird position he’s twisted his body into. Tim gets to his feet and walks with Bruce out of the room. His eyes scanning him rapidly. Bruce has his emotionless mask on, which means that he’s nervous about this talk. He’s leading Tim to the second floor study, which has the most up to date soundproofing so he wants this conversation to stay private. Tim runs through a list of topics in his mind. His school attendance has been fine, he hasn't talked back to any of his teachers recently enough for it to still be relevant. Is it patrol? Tim is pretty sure he hasn't messed anything up. He has mostly followed Batman’s orders unless he’d thought up a better plan. He’s been playing around more though. It could be that, when it's just Bruce and Tim it's easy to stay focused but with Dick, Peter, and Steph out there as well it's easy to get a bit distracted. 

“Tim,” Bruce says, his tone is gentle. No hints of disappointment or anger. That's good. Tim hasn't screwed up too badly then. He can fix this. He can show Bruce that he can be better. He doesn't have to fire him. Oh god, firing him. That's what this is. Damian is here and he’s made damned sure everyone knows that he wants to be Robin and he’s Bruce's son so it makes sense for him to be Robin. Tim isn't Bruce's son, he’s not even his ward like Dick was. Tim’s just the neighbor kid and now that Damian is here Bruce wants to make him Robin. He wants to take Robin. 

“I’m sorry,” Tim says quickly, they're in the study now. The door is closed. Tim doesn't remember the walk from the family room. “I’m sorry. I know I have-” 

“Whoa Tim hold on this isn't that kind of talk,” Bruce says holding up a hand. Tim stares at him confused. He runs through the possible topics in his head again but none of them fit the time frame and Bruce’s current mood as well. 

“Please don't take Robin from me,” he begs anyway, just to be sure. He can't lose Robin. He can't lose the one thing keeping him with the family. 

“Tim,” Bruce’s gaze softens and he reaches out to place a hand on Tim’s shoulder. Bruce's hand is warm. It's grounding in a way that Tim expects most Father’s hands feel when they can be bothered to comfort their children. Tim wouldn't know. “I am not going to take Robin from you. I expect that one day you’ll outgrow the title the way that Dick did, the way that Jason had been starting to. But that time won't come before you're ready. Until then you're my partner.” 

“So… you're not giving the title to Damian?” Tim is lost. His lists never fail him. 

“Damian is young, and he has years of the league’s training to overcome before he's ready to join the family business in any capacity. If at that time you feel ready to move into your own identity then the title may pass on to Damian, but not until then,” Bruce guides Tim over to one of the leather armchairs and gives him a nudge so he sits down on it. Bruce seems to consider the other two chairs in the room and decides to sit in the chair beside Tim’s instead of on the other side of the desk. 

“Then… what is this about?” Tim wants to fidget but this is clearly a serious conversation so Tim needs to sit still. Needs to show Bruce that he's listening. 

“It's… We need to talk about your parents,” Tim’s heart drops. He's known that this day would come but he’d expected to be more prepared for it. He’d been so careful and made sure to cover his tracks but Bruce was a detective. It couldn't stay secret forever. 

“They're out of the country,” The familiar lie falls off his tongue so easily. He’d expected Bruce to be angry when he found out that Tim had been lying. 

“Tim. I know what happened,” Bruce’s voice is too gentle. Like someone trying to soothe a child. It's his talking to victims voice. 

“Nothing happened,” Tim doesn't know why he’s insisting. 

“Where is she buried?” Bruce asks. “I’d like to pay my respects.” Tim grips the arms of his chair tightly and locks his gaze on the floor. 

“The family cemetery in the east garden,” he answers. Tim’s chest feels tight, there's something stuck in his throat. Tim’s afraid it might be a laugh. He’s been so careful about hiding the laughs, they barely happen anymore. He hasn't heard anything but his own real laugh in months. He tries to swallow it down. Bruce can't know. He can't know that he still can't get Joker’s toxins out of his system. He’s been working on it though. Peter had expressed interest in learning how to counteract the toxins they all deal with and biology was clearly more Peter’s forte than Tim’s so he’s sure the two of them together can figure out a total cure. He just needs to keep Bruce from knowing until then. 

“Why didn't you tell us, Chum?” Bruce asks, there's hurt in his voice. He’s disappointed in Tim. 

“It was a private family affair,” Tim lies. It was him and the groundsmen he’d hired and the priest from the church his mother only attended on Christmas and Easter when she was in the country. Bruce’s hand is back on Tim’s arm, giving a reassuring squeeze. Tim's eyes are burning. 

“And your father?” Bruce asks. Tim has been very careful not to bring up his father since he’d messed up and let his dad find out about Robin. His dad had made him quit. Steph had taken up the mantle, and then she died. What does it say about Tim that the Robin before and after him had both died? What does it say that he took the title back after Steph’s death? He’d have to ask her how she felt about it. 

“He’s fine,” Tim shrugs. As fine as a man in a coma could be. 

“And how is Daniel Zhou?” Bruce asks. Tim bites back the urge to curse. He’d been so careful when crafting the paper trail for his father's fake identity. He’d gotten him placed in the best long term care facility in Metropolis. 

“His vitals have remained steady with no signs of improvement or further decline. His brain functions remain low,” Tim keeps his answer short and clinical, he can't let Bruce see the cracks.

“I’m sorry,” Bruce says. Tim blinks and looks at Bruce’s face. There are none of the usual markers of a lie there. “I’m sorry Chum. I should have noticed sooner. Asked more questions.” Tim continues staring at him at a loss for words. Bruce is sorry? But Tim was the one that lied to him. Tim was the one who kept these things a secret. Bruce leans forward and wraps his arms around Tim in a hug. Tim wants to reject, wants to pull away. Because he can't get used to this kind of thing. He can't get used to the warmth of another human when it might all be pulled away again. He doesn't think he could survive the emptiness that it leaves behind. 

“I don't understand,” Tim admits. Bruce doesn't let him go and Tim doesn't pull away. 

“I’m sorry that you didn't feel you could trust me with this Tim.” 

“What? Bruce of course I trust you,” Tim pulls away now so he can see Bruce’s face. “but these are my problems. It's my family. I handled it on my own and I didn't let it get in the way of my work. I’m fine.” 

“You've been alone Tim, and I should have been there for you.”

“I’ve always been alone. That's nothing new.” 

“It doesn't have to be that way though Chum, you have all of us. I know that… we didn't have the best start but I'd like to try harder. I’d like to be there for you. If you’ll let me.” 

“What do you mean?” Tim asks. His lists are useless. He has no idea what to expect next. This isn't a Bruce that he’s dealt with before. Age must be making him soft, or maybe it's having a young son and a grandson now. Maybe it's Jason coming back to life. Tim hates unknowns. 

“I know that you’re used to being alone and that you probably feel like you don't need an adult to care for you after all this time but… with your mom’s passing and your father's condition. I’d like it if you came to stay here permanently as part of the family.” 

“Like… as your ward?” 

“I… if that's what you would prefer,” Bruce says, the right corner of his mouth tips down just a bit. 

“But not what you meant?” Tim guesses. 

“It’s not exactly. But you don't need to feel pressured to choose one way or another. I want you to feel comfortable with whatever decision you make,” Bruce picks up a manila folder from the desk and flips it open before holding it out. Tim takes it carefully as his eyes scan over the pages in front of him. The adoption pages in front of him. Tim blinks quickly and tears drip down onto the page. 

“You want,” Tim swallows the lump in his throat. “You want to adopt me?” 

“I would very much be honored to be your father, Timothy,” Bruce smiles at him. A real smile, but hesitant, nervous. 

“I’d be a Wayne? Timothy Wayne?” 

“I think it sounds fitting. But if you’d like to keep Drake I understand that too. When Dick and I did his adoption papers a few years ago he chose to keep Grayson. And Jason chose to hyphenate to Todd-Wayne. So you have options obviously,” Bruce reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, a nervous tic. He’s waiting for rejection. Tim thinks of the family room they left behind downstairs. Peter and Dick seeing how many weird ways they can bend their bodies, Steph teaching Cass how to braid her hair, Jason and Kate fighting over a video game while Damian demands to be allowed to join them. It was loud and chaotic and warm. The opposite of everything that Tim was raised to believe family was. Adoption would mean trading the empty shell of Drake Manor to be a part of this chaos. 

“Drake Wayne,” he says. “Timothy Jackson Drake Wayne.” 

“Do you like it?” Bruce asks. Tim nods his head. He does, he really does like it. Relief floods Bruce's face. “I’ll get the paperwork filed.” 

“Okay,” Tim says, he feels like he’s dreaming. Like he’s going to wake up alone in his childhood bedroom counting down the days til his parents' promised return date even though he knows it’s a lie. 

Chapter Text

Peter

The trip to Mars for the funeral of J’onn J’onzz is Peter’s third time in space. If you’d asked him five years ago if he thought he’d ever go to space he probably would have said no. After all, no matter how much the idea of space travel interested him he’d already decided to focus on Biology and Chemistry when he went to college. So to know that not only would he get to visit a space station that certainly exceeded his world's international space station but he’d traveled to another solar system and now he was on his way to Mars, for the funeral of a Martian. 

Peter keeps by Dick’s side on the ship crowded with heroes. So many more heroes than Peter could have ever imagined being in one place without causing an all out war. It’s daunting. He knows that in his world that the Avenger’s are not the sum total of all the heroes. He knows that the X-men are out there and that there are underground heroes like Daredevil, and anti-heroes like Deadpool and the Punisher, and sure there’s a whole world full of heroes that he hasn’t even heard of. But they’ve never worked together like this. He doesn’t think they’d ever be able to come together, not after the accords. Even with it being overturned it still existed. Peter wouldn’t trade his relationship with Tony for anything but he hates that he was on the wrong side of it. It’s not like he can use ‘well I was only fourteen’ as an excuse without starting a whole other fight. 

While Peter is mostly content just to stand back and offer silent support Dick does occasionally draw him into conversations with the people that approach them. It seems like Dick somehow knows every single hero on this ship in one way or another and those that he doesn’t seem to have a personal relationship look a little startstruck by him. Peter’s kept his full mask on for most of the trip. After all this day isn’t about him meeting these people so he’s content to blend into the shadows of Dick and Tim, he’d briefly considered ducking into Bruce’s cape but Bruce is one of the top members of the Justice League and was a close friend of the Martian Manhunter so he’s up at the front. Peter’s only caught a few glimpses of him, blank faced and standing strong. Peter wonders how he’s really doing. 

“Hey, Nightwing?” He says when the only hero talking with Dick is Wally. 

“Oh hey Spider-kid,” Wally says reaching out to pat him on the head. “I see the bats have been teaching y ou their weird shadows thing.” 

“I’ve been spending time with Orphan,” Peter tells him. Dick has the pinkie of one hand linked with Wally’s but he reaches up and rubs Peter’s back with his free hand. 

“You good?” Dick asks him. Peter frowns at him. 

“I’m supposed to be asking you that,” he tells him. 

“I’m alright kiddo,” Dick says softly. 

“Do you think B is alright?” He asks glancing up at the front of the ship. 

“J’onn was a good friend, and he’s been a part of the league pretty much since the beginning. It’s hitting them all hard.” 

“Should one of you be with him?” Peter asks. 

“It’s important now more than ever that people feel inspired by the big three,” Tim says. “B isn’t alone as long as Superman and Wonder Woman are with him.” Peter can’t help but think that it sounds lonely, but he also understands. He’d seen the news and the media surrounding the time during the snap. Everyone looked to the Avengers as hope. Tony, Steve, and Natasha had to keep going. They had to put on brave faces because people were relying on them. Peter doesn’t know how they could handle that kind of pressure. He thinks that it would break him if he had to be that person. 

Peter does his best to stay out of the way throughout the ceremony. He’s not surprised to find Tim keeping close to him as well. He’s seen Tim act social. He’s been running his parent's company in their absence and he had no problem speaking in front of their classes at school. Not to mention he led his Titan’s team with absolute confidence. But Peter found that Tim definitely preferred smaller groups. Peter holds onto Tim’s cape to remind him that he’s there without overwhelming him. Tim gives him a grateful look. 

Once the ceremony is over the trip back to Earth seems to take no time at all. Peter somehow ends up getting passed around to all of Dick’s Titan teammates. He switches to his domino mask on the insistence of a green man who immediately pulls on Peter’s cheeks. A very tall woman with orange skin and bright red hair declares him delightful and a girl whose age he can’t really figure out kind of scares him a bit. Dick says that’s just how she is but Peter feels like he offended her somehow. He’s met Cyborg before and Peter thinks he’s done a pretty good job of not geeking out over the fact that he’s an actual real life cyborg. He sees a red haired man with a bow and arrow lurking nearby a few times but he doesn’t approach them. He wonders a bit what that was about but before he can ask Batman comes to join them. 

“Nightwing,” He says. Dick turns away from the conversation he was having with Wally to look at his father. 

“Bats?” He asks. Peter looks between the two of them. Apparently outside of their closest allies and the core members of the Justice League and the Titans, most people don’t know about the relationship between Batman and his kids. Peter’s not sure how that works exactly when he’s pretty sure Tim is the one who runs most of their security systems in all their secret bases and all of the batkids have a vast network of super friends all around the world. 

“The Lantern Corps have requested my assistance investigating the death of Orion. I trust that you can handle things in Gotham in my absence,” Bruce says. Peter looks around for where Tim went but there’s a pretty suspicious lump in Batman’s cape so Peter is pretty sure he’s found him. He kind of wonders if there’s room for two in there. Bruce catches Peter’s gaze and even with the cowl on Peter’s got the feeling that Bruce is rolling his eyes as he opens his cape a bit. Peter grins and slips inside. Tim is also there as Peter suspected but somehow there’s still plenty of room, he’s starting to think that the cloak might use time lord technology. 

“Bigger on the inside,” Peter says. Tim snorts and brings up a hand to cover his mouth. Bruce lets out a long sigh, but Peter’s pretty sure it sounds fond and he’s pretty sure that Bruce is holding himself a little less stiffly with Tim and him tucked close. 

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter sits before the Batcomputer watching the dots of his new family as they move about their work throughout the city of Gotham. He can hear Damian in the training room even though it’s several hours past his bedtime. Peter thinks briefly that he should probably encourage the kid to sleep but he also doesn’t know that he would have been able to sleep himself knowing that Bruce is on the other side of the country and the rest of the family are out there working. It’s not that Peter doesn’t know that the Bats can all handle themselves but even in the few months that Peter has been in this world, it’s been painfully obvious that whenever Batman is publicly away with the Justice League the criminals of Gotham get a lot bolder. 

As most of his attention is focused on the screen in front of him the device in Peter’s hands clicks, drawing his attention. He frowns down at the metal wristband before tossing it aside to the table full of mechanical scraps. He’d been toying with ideas on universe travel. He knows that he can’t return home. That it wouldn’t be safe for his own universe to return home. After all Doctor Strange would have come to get him if it was. Peter’s accepted that this universe is his home now. This is where he’s going to live. But the idea of universal travel being possible, of an entire multiverse out there to be explored, is like a nagging feeling in the back of his brain and he finds himself more and more often working it out. 

Equations and theories litter the margins of his school notebooks, and his collection of half completed machines grows larger. The fact that the time in his own universe and this universe was just slightly off makes him wonder if he should be thinking about time as well and then he’d thought about the time machine the Avengers had put together in his own world. He had the information he needed to work it out. Before he’d gotten it taken away by Damage Control he’d had Edith and Karen synced up, which had given Karen access to most of Tony’s inventions. The information was all there for him and he was pretty sure that he could rework the time machine into one that could also travel between the worlds but he’d seen the device they’d use to send Captain America back and even the shrunk down version was still pretty big. Peter wants something more compact, something that can travel with him. A wristband like the computers the Bats use would be the most convenient. 

Jason’s tracker blinks onto the screen and Peter frowns at it. Jason only ever turns his trackers on when he thinks he might actually need backup at some point. Peter grabs his mask and sticks it back onto his face just in case he needs to head out in a hurry but he doesn’t go just yet. Jason will call if he needs assistance and Nightwing is technically closer to Crime Alley. Still, it leaves Peter a little on edge. He’s accepted this as his new world, the Bats as his new family. But what if the Parker luck followed him? What if it’s only a matter of time before one of them gets hurt or killed because of him? Sure he was only technically related to Dick but not being blood didn’t stop his curse from killing Ben, May, or Tony. So it wouldn’t protect the bats either. 

Peter reaches for the wristband he’d been working on before and begins to tinker with it again as he watches Jason’s red bat move across the map of Gotham. He considered telling Dick to go find him already but Ivy had slipped away the other day so Dick was attempting to find her and make sure she didn’t get up to anything nefarious. He said that her evil side seemed to come and go and while he was pretty sure she’d be chill for at least a bit he needed to make sure. With Bruce gone, they couldn’t take any chances. The thought of Ivy makes Peter think of Natasha once again. He’d never gotten to say goodbye to her in his world. Hadn’t even known she was gone until Tony’s funeral. He was so used to her appearing and disappearing whenever she felt like it that he hadn’t been surprised to not see her during the battle against Thanos. 

But Ivy and Natasha being the same person makes two people from his own world that exist in this one. Richard and Natasha are reborn as Dick and Pamela. Who else is here? He’d never even bothered to check before. Had assumed that his lack of existence meant that there would be no other familiar faces. Now he has probably the world's best supercomputer sitting in front of him and all it would take was one search. Did he dare to do that? Dare to even dream of seeing all of the people he lost again? He thinks it over for a bit. Watches as Jason’s tracker stays in one place for a bit before moving in the direction of Leslie’s clinic. Peter hopes he’s not injured but it’s more likely that he’s found a civilian that needs help. 

“Just a couple,” Peter whispers to himself as he pulls up the search. He knows that Barbara is probably watching everything he does but he doesn’t think she’ll snitch on him. If anything she might just blackmail him into shelving books at the library for a few days and he really doesn’t mind doing that. He decides to start with the safest option first and looks up Mary Fitzpatrick, he enters the information he can remember about her and sets the age range with a few years on either side of Dick’s age. He watches the green loading bar move across the screen and has to sit on his hands to keep from stopping it early. In the end it pulls up a lot of results and Peter has to scroll through all of the pictures rapidly but none of them are right. He doesn’t see his mom’s face anywhere. Peter is disappointed but he figures that it probably does make sense. After all Doctor Strange chose this world because Peter didn’t exist, it wouldn’t make sense to choose a world where he just didn’t exist yet. So without Peter’s mom in this world then there can never be a Peter. Just because it makes sense though doesn’t mean Peter has to like it. 

“What are you doing?” Damian asks, appearing suddenly at Peter’s elbow. He startles a bit and barely manages to keep himself from lashing out at the kid. He forgets how quiet Damian can be when he wants and here in the Batcave with people, he feels safe around Peter’s spider sense has decided to take a nap. 

“I’m looking up people from my world,” Peter admits. 

“Why?” Damian asks. Peter taps his fingers against the keyboard absently. 

“Curiosity. Dick and Ivy are both people in my world I wondered if others might be here too,” Peter types in a name and once again adjusts the race, age, and identifying features then waits for the search to go through. 

“Who is Benjamin Parker?” Damian asks as he reads the screen. 

“My uncle, the one who raised me,” Peter and Damian both go silent as the search completes and the information on Benjamin Parker fills the screen. Thirty year old New York Police Officer Benjamin Parker is an only child who lives in the same house that he’d owned when four year old Peter had come to live with him. He’s been married to May Parker for five years and they have no children. Peter is hit with such an intense longing that he has to nearly fold in on himself as he grasps his chest and cuts off the sob that threatens to escape. May and Ben are alive. They live together. Ben will never go out looking for Peter and get shot. May will never get chased out of her apartment and die at the hands of a villain Peter failed to save. 

“Parker!” Damian’s voice is loud in his ear but Peter feels a million miles away from his body. May and Ben will live because Peter Parker does not exist. Peter Parker can never exist. He wants his Aunt and Uncle. He wants to eat May’s date loaf and work on Ben’s beat up old car. He wants to go to Midtown High School with Ned and MJ and hell even Flash. 

“There is something wrong with Parker!” Damian says in a panicked voice. 

“Let’s keep calm Master Damian,” Alfred says. Peter feels himself being moved but he can’t pull himself out of the spiral his discovery has put himself in. He shouldn’t have looked them up. 

“He’s the one who needs to keep calm!” Damian snaps. Peter’s fingers dig into the fabric of his suit, so similar and yet different from the suit that he’d worn in his own world. Could he really settle here? Could he settle anywhere or should he run? Keep to himself? Was his being alone the only thing that could keep the people he loves safe?

“Master Peter is having a panic attack. Your raised voice is not going to help him,” Peter feels the chair he’s sitting in moving but he can’t do anything about it. He curls himself tighter and wishes for the pain in his chest to go away. Wishes for a breath of air. Wishes to be home in his bed in the apartment with Aunt May, or his room at the compound just one door away from Tony and Pepper. He wants his home, he wants to watch Star Wars with Ned and take MJ on cheesy dates. 

“Master Peter,” Alfred’s voice is closer now, Peter tries to focus on him because it would be rude to ignore him but it's so hard to think. “Spider-man.” Alfred’s voice is sharp, Spider-man. Peter is Spider-man and Spider-man can not freak out. 

“Yes,” He manages to gasp the word out and then takes a deep inhale. 

“That’s good,” Alfred says, kinder this time. “Keep breathing. In and out slowly.” Peter does his best to comply. There are hands on his own tugging gently and Peter uncurls himself just a bit so Alfred can take his hands fully into his own. 

“I got the tea,” Damian says. Peter hadn’t even noticed him leave the area. A mug is pressed between his hands and Peter focuses on the warmth bleeding through his gloves. 

“Now Master Peter, we’re going to do an exercise. I need you to tell me five things you can see,” Alfred is kneeling in front of him Peter realizes. He doesn’t know if Alfred should be kneeling like that at his age. Peter blinks the blurriness from his eyes, tears probably. 

“Mask lens, Alfred, Damian, Wonder Woman mug, bats.” 

“Very good. Now Four things you can touch.” 

“The chair, my spider suit, domino mask, warm mug.” 

“Three things you hear.” 

“Damian’s heat beating fast, bat wings, grandfather clock.” 

“The one in the study?” Damian asks

‘Two things you can smell,” Alfred ignores Damian’s interruption. 

“Chamomile tea, laundry detergent” Peter takes a deep breath, feeling settled in his body now. He takes a sip of the chamomile tea knowing what comes next.

“And one thing you can taste?” 

“Chamomile tea, with honey,” Peter blows on the mug a bit before taking another sip. 

“Very good Master Peter,” Alfred stands back up to his full height, letting out a small grunt as he straightens his legs. Peter winces at the popping sound. 

“Thank you Mr. Pennyworth,” he gives a small smile and settles back into the chair feeling worn out. 

“Agent A?” Oracle’s voice comes from the bat computer and Peter sees that except for her green avatar, the screen has gone dark. Likely to keep him from seeing what it was that had set him off again. 

“We have it all in hand now. There is no need for reinforcements,” Alfred replies smoothly. Oracle nods and then the screen goes completely dark. Peter’s a little thankful for at least the illusion of privacy. He’s able to take a few sips of his tea in peace before Damian seemingly can’t contain himself anymore. 

“What happened?!” He demands moving to Peter’s side once again. “Were you poisoned? Psychic attack? We should alert Father immediately.”

“It’s alright Master Damian,” Alfred says, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder to make sure Peter can keep his personal space. 

“But Pennyworth!”

“It wasn’t an external attack Dami,” Peter says gently. “It was sort of my own mind attacking me.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“I have a panic disorder, well I have a few things. But when I get overwhelmed or my emotions get too big I can have panic attacks,” Peter inhales the steam from his tea. “That’s what you saw. I’ve been managing it okay since I got here, well maybe not totally okay but better than nothing.” 

“I imagine that losing your entire world will do that to a person,” Alfred muses. 

“It definitely doesn’t help,” Peter pulls his hood up over his head and Karen increases the sound dampening automatically, probably monitoring his vitals. 

“Was it caused by an injury?” Damian asks, there’s a furrow between his brows and Peter has the brief thought that if the kid keeps making faces like that he’s going to grow up with a permanent wrinkle. He reaches out and smoothes it away with his thumb the way that his mother used to do for him as a child. 

“Maybe an emotional one,” Peter admits. He can’t remember a time when he didn’t have panic attacks. Maybe before he lost his parents. 

“If it's an injury then you can have it healed. I will demand that Grandfather allow you to bathe in the Lazarus pit.” 

“Yeah, I think I’m okay without that one,” Peter says thinking of Jason’s green tinged rage. “I’m not sure the anger issues are a good trade off.” 

“With your superior genes, I am sure that your survivability rate would be much higher than Todd’s” Damian says with a shrug. Peter can’t help the small laugh that comes out and when Damian’s brow furrows again he reaches out to pull the kid into a hug. Damian lets out a shout that sounds a bit more like a squawk and tries halfheartedly to escape from Peter’s hold. Peter faintly hears the roar of a motorcycle entering one of the tunnels from Gotham and when he lowers the sound dampening of his hood he can hear Green Day playing from a helmet speaker so it’s most likely Tim but could be Jason depending on his mood. 

Damian seems to have finally given up on escaping and sits slumped on Peter’s lap with a scowl on his face as Tim’s motorcycle skids to a stop in its designated place and it’s clear from Tim’s body language that he’s pissed off as he gets off the bike and chucks his helmet towards the shelf it's supposed to go on. Peter smells something slightly singed. 

“Master Timothy,” Alfred says in a scolding tone. Tim’s mask narrows but he stomps over to put his helmet in its proper place. 

“Are you hurt?” Peter asks. It looks like half of Tim’s cape has been burnt away. 

“No,” Tim grumbles as he makes his way over to him. The closer he gets the more Peter smells chemical fire. 

“You smell Drake,” Damian grumbles. 

“So does your face,” Tim unclips his cape and holds it up in front of him to survey the damage. “Fucking Firefly man.” 

“I am afraid that it appears your cape is no longer for this world Master Timothy, I shall arrange for a new one,” Alfred says, taking the remains. 

“If Bruce would just let me use the jetpack I could have taken him out no problem!” Tim insists. 

“You lost your jetpack privileges,” Barbara’s voice reminds him from the computer. Her avatar appears back on the screen and Tim shoots it a dirty look. 

“I blew it up on purpose!” Tim insists. “It was part of the plan!” 

“You took out three floors of a building,” Barbara reminds him. 

“It was already scheduled for demolition!” Tim hands over the remains of his cape to Alfred and sits on the desk with a pout. “All I’m saying is that there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to fly. I’m Robin! Robins are birds! Birds have wings!” Alfred lets out a long sigh and then heads off to probably dispose of the cape. 

“Perhaps you should change your name then,” Damian snarks. “Perhaps cassowary or kākāpō would be a more suitable name for you.” 

“Peter, drop him on the floor,” Tim orders. 

“Nah the weighted blankets are too far away,” Peter tightens his hold on Damian and the younger boy grumbles what Peter is pretty sure are curses in several other languages. He rests his chin on the top of Damian’s head. 

“I will pay you fifty dollars to drop him,” Tim offers. 

“You’re a double billionaire now you can’t lowball me,” Peter says. Tim grunts and pushes Peter’s discarded projects aside and lays down across the desk, one leg dangling off the side. 

“Parker would not dare drop me. He likes me better,” Damian says smugly. 

“I don’t have favorites,” Peter says. 

“That’s a lie,” Tim snorts. “You can claim no favorites all you want but we all know it’s Jason.” 

“Do you want wings?” Peter asks. Tim pulls his mask off and lifts his head to look at Peter with narrowed eyes. 

“Are you offering me wings?” he asks. 

“Karen, do you have footage of Falcon from our world?” Peter asks. 

“Yes Peter I do have footage of The Falcon,” Karen answers. 

“Throw it up on the Batcomputer please,” Peter says. The footage that she shows them is of the airport in Germany. Peter can’t help but smile, he’d been so excited to be meeting with the Avengers. He watches as his fourteen year old self moves through the airport fighting with the Falcon and Winter soldier. 

“If Drake is getting wings then I want the metal arm!” Damian insists. Tim’s eyes are bright as he watches the way Falcon maneuvers with his wings through the tight spaces of the airport.

“Peter, I need those wings immediately. How quickly can you make them?” 

“Depends if we have the materials or not. No Damian you don’t need a metal arm. Bucky got that because he lost his real one. Karen, do you have the specs?” The footage on the screen goes away and is replaced by the specs of the wingsuit. Tim sits up fully and leans closer to look it all over. 

"A metal arm like that one would be more useful than my current one," Damian grumbles.

"No replacing your perfectly good arm with a metal one," Peter scolds. Damian crosses his arms and pouts. 

“We can do this,” Tim says. “Your Falcon seemed to keep the wings inside the casing but could we tweak them to hang like my cape?” 

“Mmm, we’d have to change the material probably, but we could probably do it,” Peter slides the chair back in front of the computer and begins to type as they talk over the changes that would need to be made for the wings to work the way Tim wanted them to. Peter wasn’t really surprised when Damian’s head dropped back onto his chest, the boy sound asleep. It was way past his bedtime by now and he didn’t really have the same interest in the wings as Peter and Tim did. The three of them stayed at the computer until Dick, Cass, and Jason arrived from their own patrols. 

“Why are you three still up?” Dick asks as he joins them at the computer. Damian lets out a soft snore just then and Jason snorts as he leans on the back of Peter’s chair.

“You tamed the beast,” He says. 

“Aw look at him sleeping,” Dick coos. The fact that Damian hasn’t stabbed either of them is a testament to how tired he must have been. 

“One of you want to take him?” He asks, his fingers still typing away at the computer. Jason lets out a huff but he reaches down and plucks Damian off Peter’s lap carefully. 

“I’ll put this one to bed if you get the other two,” He says to Dick before heading up the stairs. 

“Cass?” Dick says. 

“Bedtime,” Cass whispers as she reaches over Tim and turns off the Bat computer’s monitor. Tim looks like he wants to protest but a slight frown from Cass has him getting up and hurrying to the changing rooms to get out of his costume. Dick and Cass both look at Peter once he’s out of sight. 

“Five more minutes?” Peter tries. Cass rolls her eyes and then heads to the changing rooms herself. Peter tilts his head back to look at Dick properly. 

“You okay little spider?” Dick asks, pushing the hood off the top of Peter’s head before removing his mask. Peter shrugs his shoulders and looks down at his hands as he pulls at the material of his gloves. 

“My aunt and uncle. They’re alive here. I guess… I guess I just wasn’t prepared for how hard that would hit me. I… I was with them both when they died. I’d gotten in a fight with Ben and I ran out of the house. If he hadn’t had to come looking for me… If I had stopped that robber at the bodega…” Peter clenches his fists and blinks back his tears. Dick lays a hand gently over one of Peter’s.

“We can’t change the past. All we can do is try to be better in the future. But I have a feeling that you’re in the habit of taking too much of the blame for yourself. You’re not the first teenager to fight with his guardians and you certainly won’t be the last. I know how easy it is to blame yourself. I did it for years after my parents died. But you have to remember that you’re only human and technically still a child. Would you hold Dami to the same standards that you’re holding yourself?” 

“No… but I am pretty sure that I’m at least forty percent spider so the human part isn’t entirely true.” 

“You’re also at least ten percent smart ass,” Dick says fondly. “Now come on let's get changed so we can eat whatever meal Alfred’s decided 4 am is and go to bed.” Peter nods a bit and lets Dick pull him to his feet. 

Chapter Text

Jason

Jason is startled awake by the blaring of an alarm. He’s disoriented at first, taking a second to pull his mind away from his dreams and taking in his surroundings. He’s in a guest room at the manor. He’s still too wary of his old room to sleep in there and he definitely doesn’t think he’d be comfortable sleeping in the manor if Bruce was also there. Jason drags himself out of bed, pulling his gun from beneath his pillow with one hand and grabbing his phone with the other. It’s the batwave blaring from his phone, and from what sounds like the other's phones as well. He doesn’t think the batwave has been regularly used in years. 

When he makes his way out into the hallway he finds that Cass and Tim have done the same, both with their phones clutched in their hands and worried looks on their faces. Peter appears next, nearly tripping as he tries to pull slippers onto his feet and walk at the same time. 

“What’s going on?” He asks. 

“Not sure, let's get down to the cave,” Jason leads the three of them to the hidden elevator and they all cram in and ride down in tense silence. The bags under Tim’s eyes tell him that he probably wasn’t sleeping when the alarm went off. By the time they make it down to the cave Dick and Damian are both already there at the Batcomputer. 

“What’s going on?” Tim asks hurrying over to join them, Cass right behind him. Jason follows them, glancing briefly down at Peter beside him. 

“That alarm sound is the batwave, Bruce used it in the beginning but kind of phased it out over time. I’m not sure why it’s going off now,” Jason explains. 

“There’s two motorcycles coming from the tunnels,” Peter says, rubbing at one of his ears. Jason’s noticed that Peter’s been trying to wear his headphones less but they’re still hanging around his neck so Jason reaches over to pull them over the younger teens ears. Peter blinks in surprise but there’s a thankful look in his eyes as he glances up at Jason. The two motorcycles turn out to be Steph and Kate, who pull into the cave at the same time. 

“What is all this racket?” Steph asks as she gets off her bike and hangs her helmet on the handle. 

“Batwave,” Kate says as she does the same. 

“Dick won’t tell us why it’s going off,” Tim tells them.

“Dick stop being a dick what is it?” Kate asks. They’re all gathered in front of the computer now, the sound finally cuts out and Oracle appears on the screen. 

“Everyone here?” She asks. 

“Yes,” Steph hops up to sit on a table. “What’s with the noisy wake up?”

“I’ve got to admit it was a bit nostalgic,” Barbara says. “It took me a second to figure it out but I think that it was B that set the wave off. I’ve been looking through his data from the last twenty four hours and I can see that he was working with the lanterns. He was at the watchtower but...” Barbara pauses for a second as she continues to go over the logs. “It looks like Hal Jordan was arrested by the Green Lanterns. They’re saying that he killed Orion and tried to kill John Stewart. But there’s nothing after Jordan’s arrest. B’s records stop there.” 

“He’s got to be out there somewhere,” Dick says, pulling up the information that Barbara just gave them along with the logs from the batwave. 

“We should go immediately to his last location,” Damian demands.

“We can’t go in without any information,” Kate says, moving to stand beside Dick and look over the information as well. 

“But… we can’t just do nothing,” Tim says with a frown. 

“Kate’s right,” Jason says. “B wouldn’t want us to go in without a plan.” 

“Boo you’re not supposed to be the voice of reason!” Steph says, reaching out to shove his shoulder. “Since Jason has decided to suck I say we go in guns blazing to rescue B from whatever bullshit he’s gotten himself into and get back in time for breakfast.” 

“It’s afternoon,’ Tim tells her. Steph flips him off. 

“Who’s with me?” 

“No one is going anywhere. Especially not with guns blazing,” Dick scolds as he snatches the gun from Jason’s hand and unloads it before tossing the parts of it in different directions. 

“What did I do?” Jason asks. 

“No guns,” Cass says pointing at a sign hanging on one of the stalagmites that says just that. Jason is pretty sure one of them hung it there and he vows to shoot it down the next time he’s in here without Peter’s super hearing. 

“We need a real plan,” Kate says. Jason watches as one by one everyone’s gaze turns to Dick where he sits with his eyes focused on the screen in front of him. Dick has a frown on his face but Jason can practically see the cogs turning in his brain as he thinks through everything. 

“You’re the oldest,” Steph reminds Kate, “Why don’t you take charge?” 

“Because I’m not a team player the way you guys are. I got the alert too so I’m here to help but Dick is the one with the leadership experience.” 

“Alright,” Dick says, turning the chair around to face them. 

“Are we going after him?” Peter asks. 

“We have protocols for these sorts of things. We are giving Bruce twenty four hours to get himself out of whatever trouble he’s gotten into. In the meantime, I’m restructuring our patrols. No one is going alone anymore. Jay, I’m sorry but that means you too. We’ve known for weeks now that something big is coming and Bruce going missing at this time can’t be a coincidence. Oracle I need your eyes and ears everywhere. Find everything that Bruce did in the last week. Look into the lanterns too. Find anything that looks out of place. Cass and Steph I’m partnering you two up. Tim and me will be partners. Kate if you can add Crime Alley to your district so that Jay’s not alone. Peter, we'll cycle through who goes with you on your daytime patrols.” 

“I am Peter’s partner,” Damian snaps at him. “We don’t need additional help!.” 

“It's non-negotiable,” Dick says, getting to his feet. “Until we know what's going on, until we find Bruce we don’t go out alone.” 

“Bruce is supposed to be here tomorrow,” Tim reminds him. “Wayne enterprise is making a large donation to the rebuilding of Bludhaven and he was supposed to be there to present it.” 

“Right… Is Luke available?” Dick asks.

“It won’t have the same meaning if it's not a Wayne,” Tim says, giving Dick a look. Jason knows that he’s attempting to get Dick to do it but judging by the look of realization that crosses Dick’s face. 

“You’re right Timmy,” Dick says with a grin. “It is supposed to be a Wayne. Thanks for volunteering little brother.” 

“What!? No, that's not what I meant!” Tim yells. 

“Welcome to the family replacement!” Jason teases as he pulls Tim into a headlock. 

“I hate this family,” Tim grumbles.

“Now you get it,” Jason says with a laugh. Tim grumbles and tries to break free of Jason’s hold. 

“I want to go out,” Peter says. “If this bad thing is coming soon I need to check in on my friends. Maybe see if I can convince a couple of them to visit family out of town.” 

“I will suit up!” Damian says, running off before any of them can object.

“Alright that’s fine,” Dick says. “Who wants to go with them?” 

“I go,” Cass says. 

“Thanks, Cass,” Peter says before going to put his own suit on. Steph says something about breakfast and she and Kate both go upstairs to look for Alfred. Jason lets go of Tim and the younger teen rushes to the other side of Dick for safety. 

“Are you good Dick?” Jason asks. Dick takes a deep breath and drops a hand onto Tim’s head to ruffle his hair.

“Yeah, I’m good. Tim thanks for the reminder about the rebuild. I think Nightwing should make an appearance too. Think about your speech!” Dick says before heading upstairs himself. Tim glowers at his retreating back. 

“Is it too late to be unadopted?” Tim asks.

“You could try dying,” Jason suggests. “If you don’t legally exist you can’t legally be adopted.” 

“Eat shit and die,” Tim curses before heading upstairs. 

“Been there done that!” Jason calls after him. 

“Akhi,” Damian calls, demanding Jason’s attention. Jason has to bite down on the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing. Damian’s usual white and black outfit has been replaced or rather upgraded. The white part has designs on it now that make it look like feathers and there’s an ‘F’ embroidered on it in the same type of font as the Robin ‘R’. 

“Looking good squirt,” he says. 

“Did you have a part in this?” Damian demands. 

“Nope,” Jason shrugs his shoulders. “I’m guessing it was all Alfie.” 

“I have not agreed to this ridiculous Fledgling name,” Damian crosses his arms, his lips pressed together in displeasure. 

“You kinda already put the suit on kid. I think that tells me that you already have,” Jason reaches out to ruffle his hand through Damian’s spiked hair. 

“You ready?” Peter asks as he appears from the changing rooms, the hood of his suit pulled up and his full mask on. 

“I suppose so,” Damian grumbles, following Peter down to where the motorcycles are parked. He’s been trying to argue for his own or to be allowed to drive the batmobile but no one in their right mind would give an eight year old the keys despite his insistence on his ability to drive. Jason watches as Peter and Damian take off on the bike down the tunnel. He turns his attention to the Batcomputer and sits down in the chair to start his own search for Bruce. He’s got a few contacts left out there from his year of traveling and if he can do anything to help then he wants to. 

Chapter Text

Damian

Damian sits on the edge of a building roof, his feet dangling over the alley below and his elbows resting on his knees with his chin in his hands as he watches the fight taking place down below with disdain. He finds the restrictions on him joining in on the fights to be utterly ridiculous especially when Peter’s way of fighting always seems to be so needlessly drawn out. He’s constantly insisting on speaking with the criminals instead of just immediately taking them out. It’s a waste of time and there are much more important things they could be doing right now. 

“Are you done yet?” Damian calls down. Peter jumps out of the way of one of the thugs' knives and lands on the wall of the alley. 

“Did you have something better to do?” He asks, sounding far too chipper. 

“Quite literally anything besides this,” Damian sighs. Peter laughs a bit and then in just a few seconds he has all of the criminals webbed up and disarmed. Damian scowls at him as he swings himself back up onto the roof to sit beside Damian. 

“Sometimes it’s important to check in with people who are committing crimes,” Peter says as his mask retracts into the domino. “You never know why they’re doing it. Especially in a city like this where sometimes people's only choices are to turn to crime or let their families starve.”

“There are other choices besides turning to crime,” Damian says, dropping his hands and sitting up straight. 

“Not always,” Peter shrugs his shoulders and gets back to his feet offering a hand to Damian. “There’s a lot of factors to take in. People don’t always have access to all of the resources and sometimes even if they do their pride stops them from seeking help.” Damian ignores Peter’s hand and gets to his feet on his own, prompting the older boy to give him a pointed look. Damian scowls back at him. 

“Would you choose your pride over feeding your family?” Damian asks as he begins moving across the roof to resume the patrol route they’d paused so Peter could handle the muggers. 

“No,” Peter says as he walks beside him. “If it meant helping someone that I loved, I wouldn't care about my own pride. I didn’t have much growing up, My Aunt and Uncle made enough for us to get by but there wasn’t anything extra. There was even less when Uncle Ben died. I got into a good school on a scholarship and Aunt May worked extra hours to make sure that I could participate in the extracurriculars that my scholarship didn’t cover. So I get it on some level.” 

“I suppose I have never concerned myself with money,” Damian admits as he jumps from one roof to the next.

“Well you’re technically a prince aren’t you? I don’t imagine that’s something that comes up in your education. It’s important to learn about though, I think one of the reasons that even now that he’s technically a criminal people seem to like Red Hood is that he’s one of them. He gets what they’re going through on a personal level. It’s something that I’ve noticed even Batman struggles with. He might have been born in Gotham but being born into money put him above the everyday people. I think he might be a little too harsh on them sometimes.” 

“Do you think Father will be home soon?” Damian asks. The twenty four hours after they lost contact with Batman had gone by quickly. So had the seventy two hours after that. Kane, Drake, and Brown had all left Gotham to try to search for him and if things in the city stayed calm as they’d seemed the past few nights Damian had no doubt that Grayson and Jason would follow suit. Bruce was out there somewhere, probably in danger. But they all seemed to be trying to balance the search for him with their duties to Gotham and it was making Damian angry. He’d come all this way to get to know his father and now he was missing his chance. There had to be a way to find him and Damian was determined to help. Even from the sidelines, they insisted on keeping him on. He’d even reach out to his mother if it was necessary. 

“I’m not sure,” Peter admits. Damian doesn’t like the answer but at least Peter is honest with him. Drake and Grayson would both rather just tell him what they think he wants to hear. “We don’t know enough about whatever this threat is yet. He was supposed to be with the green lanterns when he disappeared but the green lanterns are claiming they have no idea where he’s gone. It’s definitely suspicious.” 

“Perhaps we should interrogate them properly then,” Damian clenches his fists as his eyes move up to gaze at the green shield that still surrounds the earth. No one has been able to give him a clear answer on whether it's there to keep something in or out.

“I feel like that might be a good way to start an intergalactic crisis,” Peter says standing beside him. Damian crosses his arms and glares at the sky. 

“Would that stop Father from trying to rescue us?” He asks. Peter’s head tilts to the side as he considers the answer.

“I don’t know him as well as everyone else does. I think that I’d like to believe he’d stop at nothing to rescue any of his children but I also think he’d be smart about it. Nightwing and him were partners for years and I think that he’s the best one to make the decisions on how we handle this.” 

“So you are content to just stay here and do nothing?” 

“No,” Peter says firmly. “But I’m smart enough to know that my knowledge and connections in this world are lacking enough that I wouldn’t have the resources to be of any use outside of Gotham.” 

“This is foolish!” Damian can’t help but stomp his foot, seeking a way to let out his frustration without being scolded. He is itching for a fight right now. A real one like he would partake in if he were back at home. He knows that Cassandra is nearby somewhere keeping an eye on them and wonders if he could goad her into a fight.

“I know you’re frustrated,” Peter says as he crouches down to Damian’s height. Damian considers punching him in the face now that it’s closer but it would only result in a scolding from Pennyworth or Grayson. 

“He is my father! I should be allowed to assist!” 

“Dami,” Peter sighs and rubs the back of his neck. He is quiet for a long moment but Damian has gotten used to his quirks and he knows that Peter is thinking through his answer. There are times when Peter rambles on and on saying every thought that comes into his head and there are other times, like now, when he stays quiet and lets his brain work through the words before saying them. 

“Do not begin to lie to me,” Damian warns him. 

“I don’t want to lie to you Dami. I just… I don’t have a good answer,” Peter lets out a long sigh, “I’m not… I’m not used to being the responsible one. When I was in my own world I was kind of always the youngest of the heroes. I did a lot of things on my own, but the big world ending stuff. I always followed the other heroes' lead. Or well… I sort of did.” 

“You were disobedient,” Damian guesses. 

“I did have a tendency to go against orders,” Peter admits. He shoots a web across to a building on the other side of the street then sticks the end in his hand to the building they’re currently on. Damian watches closely as Peter walks across the web to the other side. Damian waits til he’s reached the other side then follows, holding his hands out to the sides to help him keep his balance. 

“So then you should not object to us going against Nightwing’s orders,” Damian says as he steps off the web onto the building. 

“Not listening to orders is what landed me stranded on another planet fighting against a giant purple alien with most of the powers of the universe in his hand,” Peter says. “You know til he snapped away fifty percent of all living beings and I got turned into dust.” 

“You would have just died on earth if you hadn’t,” Damian shrugs. “At least you were in the thick of the battle and able to assist.” 

“A lot of good that did us,” Peter sighs. “I couldn’t hold onto the gauntlet and Thanos got away. I wasn’t prepared for a fight like that. I keep thinking that if I had just done something differently then maybe I could have stopped him. If I had taken my training more seriously or learned better how to control my powers.” 

“I don’t understand,” Damian says, shooting his grappling hook to the next building over. Peter shoots out another web and they jump off the roof together. 

“Don’t understand what?” Peter asks. 

“You seem to have a good control over your powers.” 

“Not always. I feel like from time to time I still figure out something new. I focused so much on just suppressing everything. Learning to control my strength and block out all the extra sights and sounds. To fit in with normal people.” 

“That’s why you insist on me doing all this extra training?” Damian releases his grappling and tucks into a roll to land on the new rooftop. Peter lands beside him. 

“It’s why I think everyone should continue their training to make sure they’re the best they can be. I talked to Superman a little bit too, he gave me some tips on using my hearing to my advantage. And back in my world there was a Vigilante named Daredevil, he’s blind and he uses his hearing to see basically,” Peter tilts his head to the side listening to something that Damian can’t hear. 

“Like a bat?” He asks.

“Yeah,” Peter says. “I think there’s a break in.” 

“Let us go then,” Damian says, waiting for direction. Peter takes off across the rooftops and Damian follows along beside him, both of them used to moving in tandem now. Peter has been adamant on them learning each other's limits and now Damian knows that Peter will already have anticipated when Damian will need assistance moving across the roofs in the way that he does and he’ll find a web or a hand already waiting to assist him. 

“You want to go in with me?” Peter asks as they approach the jewelry store that’s been broken into. 

“Will you permit me?” Damian asks. 

“I will if you follow my lead and not stab people in lethal ways.” 

“And what about non lethal ways?” Damian is already pulling a batarang from his utility belt.

“Only when necessary,” Peter reminds him. 

“I agree to your terms Spider,” Damian says before he jumps off the roof, shooting a grappling hook to swing himself through the window he can feel Peter following behind him. 

Chapter Text

Peter

It was called the Anti-life equation and it was sent out across the entire world through every communication network. Peter doesn’t know why it didn’t work on him. If it was his powers or the fact that he’s not a part of this universe. Or maybe it’s just that he and Damian had chosen to spend the night in the Opera house, with the Arc reactor running things their devices weren’t connected to the rest of the world and Damian had spent a good portion of the night playing a game with Karen and the nanobots. Peter doesn’t know. He hasn’t had the time to figure out why. It’s been nearly a month since it happened. He and Damian have been completely on their own.  

They’d tried at first to help the others, to find a way to free them. Peter knew that whatever was happening was mostly based in Bludhaven. The rebuilding of the city had just barely begun but even now in the chaos it continued. Peter had gone into the city once following after a Justifier he thought might have been Nightwing but he’d been ambushed by Wonder Woman and not wanting to hurt her when she wasn’t in control of herself had led to Peter being beaten pretty soundly. Thankfully Damian had disobeyed him and followed as well and had been able to get Peter back to Gotham and the Opera house locked down. It had taken Peter three days to fully heal from his injuries. 

It had been a hard lesson to learn. These were the people that Peter and Damian had begun to consider family and they were fully under the control of a man who called himself Boss Dark Side. Peter suspected that the helmets they wore played a big part in it but he hadn’t been able to get a hold of one yet to find out and with the threat of the anti-life equation looming over them he didn’t want to take the chance. He needed to remain in control of himself for Damian’s sake if nothing else. The Anti-life equation didn’t have everyone under its control. Peter knew that there were other people out there, there was a rebellion forming and Peter would help them when the time came. But for now, he and Damian patrolled the streets of Gotham doing what they can to help the people that remain. The normal citizens of Gotham deemed unimportant to control with the anti-life equation. They do what they can for them.

“Parker,” Damian says. Peter’s sitting in the villain’s lair, surrounded by cast-off projects. He hasn’t been able to sleep properly in a long time, the ever looming threat wreaking havoc on his nerves and his anxiety getting the better of him. So he tinkers in his free time. Keeping his hands and his mind busy. He eyes the wristband in his hands. The same one he’d started on months ago in the safety of the Batcave. He thinks that it might be almost finished now. Thinks that he might be able to use it to travel not just through time but through universes. He’ll need a test run of course. But there’s no time for that. Too much risk. 

“Parker,” Damian says again, voice sounding more irritated. Peter blinks a few times and moves the wristband aside to look up at Damian on the edge of the stage. 

“What’s up Dami?” He asks. 

“It’s time to feed the cats,” Damian reminds him. Peter rubs his hand over his eyes, they feel irritated like when he was a kid and his glasses prescription had been wrong but he’d been too nervous about the cost of new glasses to tell May and Ben. 

“Right, okay,” Peter puts aside his projects, steps over the prototype wings he hadn’t put away yet, and jumps up onto the stage. They both spend most of their time already in their suits now. Never knowing when they’ll be needed and not wanting to waste the precious few seconds it would take them to change. Just before everything had gone wrong Peter had convinced Mrs Carlston and a few others to leave the city, he doesn’t know if it made a difference or not but he really hopes so. True to their word he and Damian have been doing what they can for those that are left behind. Including the animals. Several of the folks that left had been able to take their pets with them but Mrs Charlston had a whole army of cats who barely let themselves be pet on good days and wouldn’t stand to be confined in carriers let alone moved to another state. 

Peter grabs his mask from where the nanobots had been recharging and places it onto his face letting his full mask form. He’s been keeping his full mask on more lately. Both for the familiarity and because he doesn’t want people to see him falter. He’s all that’s left protecting Gotham. He’s new to them, he doesn’t have the trust or the faith or the fear that Batman can instill in them. To them, Spider-Man and Fledgling are both just children playing an adult's game. Peter doesn’t think that telling them his eighteenth birthday had probably already passed in the alternate universe where he’s from would help either. So he keeps his mask on to hide his face, and his youth, to hide the unhealthy paleness and the stress acne. Because of course with all the changes his powers had given him getting rid of acne couldn’t be one of them. 

“They are going to be angry,” Damian says, already shooting his grappling hook up through the opening in the roof of the Opera house. “We are already twenty minutes behind schedule.” 

“It’s alright Dami, they'll take it out on me,” Peter shoots a web up and pulls himself up onto the ceiling. He opens the roof access and climbs up onto the roof. Damian follows behind him and Peter closes the access once again, making sure to activate all of the security measures. He’s thankful now for Jason’s paranoia. It’s definitely come in handy. 

“That will not suffice,” Damian barely waits for Peter to finish before he takes off in the direction of Mrs Charlston’s apartment complex. Peter rolls his eyes behind his mask and chases after the kid. “We should get them extra treats as an apology.” 

“We’re not exactly rolling in the cash right now Dami, maybe the guy at the market has some canned tuna. I fixed his freezer yesterday and he said he’d get us whatever we needed.” 

“You have access to father’s funds do you not?” Damian asks. 

“People aren’t really taking credit cards right now. It’s kind of the end of the world,” Peter reminds him.

“This is Gotham, it’s always the end of the world,” Damian sighs. Peter has to admit that he sort of has a point. The total breakdown of any proper governing bodies had not phased them at all. They’d all adjusted immediately. Of course most of the city was being run by different crime lords and mob bosses or secret societies anyway and most of them were still around save for Jason, but he’d prepared his gang well and they’d spread out beyond Crime Alley to take over the Narrows and the Bowery as well. It was a big help to Peter and Damian, knowing that the street kids at least still had the Red Hood’s protection even without the man himself around. 

“Tuna’s the best we’re gonna get right now, besides anything richer than that might upset their tummies if they aren’t used to it.”

“I suppose,” Damian grumbles. Peter tries not to laugh at his grumpy face as he lands on the fire escape and pulls the window open. As predicted the cats are not happy about the delay in their dinner. Peter gets a lot of dirty looks and multiple scratch attempts as he moves through the sea of cats. Damian of course gets nothing but purrs and loving headbutts. Peter is totally not offended and definitely doesn’t consider how he might get his hands on some of the good cat treats after all. 

“Spider-man, Fledgling,” Karen says into their earpieces. Peter and Damian both pause as they listen to her. 

“I have re-established a connection with Flash on the Justice League’s communication network,” Karen says. Peter and Damian’s gazes meet across the apartment. There’s been a lot of missing heroes in the last month. Batman who they had uncovered had been captured by a mind controlled green lantern, both Barry and Wally who Peter knows were involved in some way with the investigation of Orion’s death but he couldn’t figure out what part they actually had, the last of the missing heroes was Superman. From what Peter could find when he hacked the Justice League’s network Superman had gone off planet for a mission of his own right after J’onn’s funeral. Peter didn’t know if that meant he’d been brainwashed as well or if he was still out there somewhere. 

“Connect us!” Peter says quickly. Damian jumps over the cats and lands beside Peter. There’s the familiar crackle of static as the connection is made. “Flash!?” 

“Pe- Spider-kid?” Wally’s voice comes back. Peter could nearly cry in relief, he drops his hand onto Damian’s shoulder and gives him a gentle squeeze. 

“Hi Flash,” Peter says. 

“What the hell did we miss?” Wally asks. 

“Quite a lot,” Damian says. 

“Who’s that?” a different voice asks, Peter assumes that’s Barry. 

“I am Da-” Peter covers Damian’s mouth. 

“Names remember,” He reminds him. “Fledgling is on the line. He’s Batman’s son,” Peter tells them. 

“Oh! The stabby one!” Wally says. 

“Yes exactly,” Peter pulls his hand away when Damian bites him. 

“I am the Grandson of the Demon’s head and son of the bat! I will not be silenced!” Damian snaps at Peter. 

“Okay okay we get it,” Barry says. “Where are you two?” 

“We’re in Gotham,” Peter says, moving to the window and looking out at the city. He can hear trouble brewing and knows they’ll need to get a move on soon. 

“Alright we’re on our way,” Wally tells them. “Is there anyone else there with you?” Peter knows he’s asking about Dick, Peter really hates to be the one to have to tell him this. 

“No, I’m sorry. It’s just the two of us,” Peter says. There’s silence on the other end of the line. “I don’t think that it’s a good idea for you guys to come over here yet.” 

“What? Why?” Wally asks. 

“Because they might see you guys coming. Things have gone to shit in the last month. Look I’m setting up my A.I Karen to fully connect to you guys comms. She’s going to give you guys the rundown of what’s been going on. She should also be able to keep our comms clear of any interference. There’s a plan in place already, three more days until it goes into effect but if you guys come running across the country someone might notice and they’ll change things up.” 

“Peter, are you guys okay?” Barry asks. “If you’ve been handling Gotham on your own…” 

“I’m not gonna lie,” Peter says, “It’s been a little rough. But me and Fledgling have been handling things and Gothamites are kind of a breed of their own. It’s a little bit lawless but nothing we can’t handle for a few more days.” 

“The two of us combined are more than capable of handling this,” Damian adds. 

“What if it was just me?” Wally asks. “Barry can make a distraction or something and I can come to you guys.” 

“It’s okay really… We’ll be okay,” Peter promises. 

“Alright, but you say the word and I’ll be there in a flash,” Wally says. Peter and Damian both groan at the joke and Barry starts laughing. 

“I’m ending the call,” Peter says once Karen indicates she’s finished connecting herself to Barry and Wally. The call ends leaving Peter and Damian alone with the cat army once again. 

“Will we be okay?” Damian asks in an uncharacteristically nervous voice. Peter pulls him closer and wraps his arm around the kid's shoulders. 

“We’re going to be,” Peter says. “In three days everything will be in place and we’re going to get your dad and the rest of the family back.” Damian rests his head against Peter for just a few seconds before he pulls away and nods his head. 

“Yes, we’re going to get them back,” Damian says before climbing out of the window onto the fire escape. 

Even with his domino mask covering part of his face Peter can read Damian’s emotions easily. He sees the determined set of his jaw, but he can also see the way that Damian’s shoulders tremble. He might be different than most kids, with his training and his upbringing in the league but even with all of that, he is still an eight-year-old kid who barely got to know a good chunk of his family before they were all taken away. There hasn’t even been any word from his Mother or Grandfather either so they can only assume what became of them through all this. Peter wishes he could be better. He wishes that he could march into Bludhaven on his own and free everyone. Wishes that he had the strength to win against all odds. 

He knows that he isn’t though. He can barely hold Gotham together on his own let alone the whole world. So he needs to think. Needs to use his brain and work with the others that have escaped Boss Dark Side's control. So he’ll wait for the Super Young Team and for the team from C heckmate, and the Flashes. When they’re all together then maybe they have a chance of winning. Maybe they have a chance to get Bruce back, or maybe even to find Superman. But it is going to take all of them. So Peter and Damian will have to wait. Three more days. They can make it three more days. 

As Peter and Damian reach the roof of the apartment complex the shriek of a siren pierces Peter’s ears and when he turns to face the sound he has to pause for just a second. There in the distance, on top of the GCPD headquarters, a spotlight shines on the smog filled sky. But instead of the usual bat, there is a spider in the sky.

“They’re calling us,” Damian says. Peter nods his head but he stays in place for just a few seconds longer, staring at the spider. He knows that it's different. He knows that it’s just because Batman is indisposed. But he can’t help but think about his world. About the protesters outside his and May’s apartment. The paint, the bricks, and the eggs thrown at him as he tried to help. It's different here. Peter knows that. He knows that most of the people in New York were kind to him, and that the citizens had helped him time and time again. But those last few weeks filled with outrage and hatred feel so much more prominent. Seeing his symbol there in the sky of Gotham, knowing that the city has fully accepted him as one of their own, it makes something deep in his chest feel warm. 

“Let’s go,” He says, before leaping off the roof and flipping through the air. He hears the sound of Damian’s grappling gun behind him and for just a few minutes he feels a little less homesick. 

Chapter Text

Peter

It’s raining in Gotham. Heavy drops of ice cold rain despite the muggy summer heat. Peter is thankful for his waterproof suit and the hood that keeps the water off his face. Beside him, Damian has added a cloak to his usual costume. They’re both laden down with more equipment than they usually carry as they tried to prepare for what they will face once they enter Bludhaven. Peter wears the wingsuit that he designed for Tim, the wings are capable of hanging down loosely as a cape but Peter found it too restrictive and so they’re tucked away inside the casing for now. Batman’s yellow utility belt hangs around his waist sitting crooked and hooked onto one of the pouches of his own belt to keep it from slipping off. Peter has no plans of even touching them but Jason’s favorite two guns are holstered to both of his thighs, and Tim’s bo staff is tucked away into his utility belt. Beneath his cloak Damian wears Robin and Nightwing’s utility belts crossed over his chest and Nightwing’s escrima sticks are strapped to his back along with his usual sword. Peter hopes that they’ll be able to pass the items off to their proper owners once they get over there. 

Through his communications with the team from Checkmate Peter’s been able to figure out that the helmets the Justifiers wear do most of the work when it comes to mind controlling them. Almost like they enhance the effects of the anti-life equation. It took some time but Peter is pretty sure that he’s come up with a way to counteract it but he’s only been able to test it once so far on a justifier that ended up being a retired police officer. He doesn’t know if the hold on the heroes will be any different. He and Damian are both armed with dozens of small little dot like doohickies that once stuck to the helmets should reverse the brainwashing. He’d stashed some more of them in different places where the other teams would be passing through for their attack. If it works the way it's supposed to then they should be able to free those that have been held against their will this past month. 

“They’re late,” Damian complains, tugging his cloak tighter around himself. “How can the fastest men in the world be late?” 

“We had to make a few pit stops,” Barry says as he skids to a stop behind them. Peter and Damian both turn to face them as Wally appears as well, setting down the man that he’d brought along. 

“Oh god, I’m gonna throw up,” The man says. “That never gets better. ”

“Spider-man, meet Speedy,” Wally says. 

“Isn’t Speedy a girl?” Peter asks, he was pretty sure that Mia who Tim had introduced him to in Jump City went by Speedy but with this many heroes running around there were probably bound to be a few similar names but the red haired man that Wally had brought with him also had a bow and arrow on his back. Two archers with the name Speedy seemed a little too confusing. 

“I haven’t been Speedy in years. It’s Arsenal now,” he corrects as he stands up straight, putting his hands on his hips and taking deep breaths. “Sorry, give me a sec.” 

“Do you need like a ginger ale or something?” Peter asks.

“Nope, no I’m good, sorry. I’m Roy,” He has an awkward smile on his face as he holds out his hand. Peter thinks he might like this guy. 

“Peter,” he says as he shakes Roy’s hand. “And this is Damian.” 

“Why is he here?” Damian asks crossing his arms. His face is mostly hidden by his hood but Peter’s pretty sure he’s pouting. 

“We can use all the help we can get for this,” Barry says. “While we were waiting we went around and searched for anyone else that had managed to escape the brainwashing. We found a few more that we dropped off with the other teams already.” 

“I’ve been out of the game for a bit,” Roy admits. “Guess it meant that whoever this big bad is forgot about me.” 

“Well we’re glad to have you back now,” Wally says patting Roy on the shoulder. 

“Are those trick arrows?” Peter asks, pointing at the quiver Roy carries. It reminds him of the one that Hawkeye used to switch between different trick arrows. 

“Yeah they are,” Roy says. 

“Oh, that might work!” Peter pulls the baggie of extra doohickies from his belt and holds them out. “I made these. If they stick to the helmets they’ll rewrite the programming and everyone should be freed. Can you attach them to your arrows?” 

“Yeah, yeah I can do that,” Roy says taking the bag and then sitting down on the roof to get to work attaching them to his arrows. 

“What do we know about the situation in Bludhaven?” Barry asks as he looks over the harbor where Bludhaven can barely be seen through the dreary Gotham weather. 

“I’ve only made it into the city myself once,” Peter admits, his shoulder still twinges from the beating Wonder Woman had given him. He’s pretty sure it might just be psychological though because the x-ray he’d given himself hadn’t shown anything and surely his powers would have healed him by now, he’s not ready to unpack that can of worms though so he’s leaving it alone for now. 

“He barely made it out alive,” Damian adds. “I had to come to his rescue.” 

“You’re hurt?” Wally asks. There’s a rush of wind as the speedster circles around him and Peter feels himself being poked and prodded. 

“I heal quickly,” Peter says, shooing him away. 

“Are you sure?” Wally asks, “Because I am not going to be the one to tell Dick I let our alternate universe child go into battle with any injuries. That’s just bad parenting!” 

“Alternate what?” Roy asks looking up from his work. 

“Oh right! I forgot you didn’t get the whole story. Peter, can you show him the thing?” Wally asks. 

“Do we have time for this?” Damian asks. 

“We’ll know when it starts,” Peter says, he lets his mask retract and removes the domino from over his eyes. 

“Jesus it’s like looking into the past,” Roy says. “You’re like practically Dick copied and pasted.” 

“Except for the eyes,” Peter says before putting his mask back on. “I got those from my mom’s side. You didn’t hear Dick telling everyone about me at the funeral?” 

“He wasn’t at the funeral,” Wally says. 

“Yeah he was, I saw him,” Peter is definitely sure he remembers seeing him on the spaceship. 

“I was there,” Roy admits as he returns his focus to his task.

“What?” Wally zips closer to Roy. “Why didn’t you say hi?” 

“Didn’t know if I’d be welcomed and I didn’t want to cause a scene,” Roy shrugs one shoulder. 

“Why wouldn’t you be welcome?” 

“We didn’t part on the best of terms,” Roy glances briefly at Wally. “Me and Dick at least.” 

“Can I ask why or is this a conversation for another day?” Peter looks between Roy and Wally trying not to be too curious. 

“Probably best for another day with less little ears,” Roy suggests. 

“There is no need to treat me as a child,” Damian snaps. “I am a highly trained assassin and the partner of Spider-man.” 

“Take it from someone who learned the hard way, there’s no reason to rush yourself to adulthood,” Roy repacks his quiver and slings it over his back once again. 

“Arsenal is right,” Peter says. “I’d kill to go back to high school. I’ve now missed my chance to graduate three times because of near world ending events.” 

“Three?” Barry asks. 

“Yep,” Peter rocks back on his heels. “The first time I got killed in Space along with like 50 percent of all living things. I was a Junior. We were gone for five years so I missed the year I was supposed to graduate. I had this shirt that my Aunt had made me on my first day of school that said class of twenty-nineteen graduate. I was supposed to wear it again for my actual graduation. When I came back to life everything was out of wack. I had to start my junior year over again. So I was going to graduate in twenty-twenty five but well… I got sent here and it was March so they put me back in school.

“And now it’s nearly the end of June,” Barry says.

“Yep, so three times. Guess it wasn’t meant to be,” Peter shrugs his shoulders and tries to sound cheerful. 

“I’m going to hug you,” Wally says before doing just that. He squeezes Peter in a tight hug for a moment before letting him go once again. “Geeze why do you have so much sharp stuff on?” 

“Oh it’s everyone’s gear,” Peter says. “I want to make sure we’re prepared when we break the mind control on them.” 

“Do you know how to use those guns?” Roy asks from his spot on the ground. 

“I do,” Peter admits. “My Uncle was a cop and then I trained with an assassin and several military personnel. I don’t use them but I know how to handle them.” 

“Do you want me to take them?” Roy asks. Peter considers it. They’re Jason’s absolute favorite guns, the ones he sleeps with and cares for. Peter expects he’ll be moving a lot and there might be a pretty good chance that he’ll lose them. 

“Jason will sever both our heads from our necks if anything happens to these,” Peter says. “You promise to keep them safe?” 

“I promise to keep them safe,” Roy says, sounding amused. Peter unstraps the gun holsters and hands them over carefully. Roy stands up and takes them, strapping them to his own legs. Peter admittedly feels a lot better not having them on him. As an archer Roy will hopefully be above the fighting for the most part so at least the guns will be safe. 

“It’s your head if you break that promise,” Damian snaps at him. Peter considers telling him to be polite but he’s not wrong so he decides to leave it for now. In the distance, he hears a long whistle followed by four short ones. 

“Oh, it’s almost time,” He says, turning away from the group and moving to the side of the roof to look across the harbor. 

“How do you know?” Barry asks. Damian moves to stand at Peter’s side, stepping up onto the raised edge. 

“Enhanced hearing, the Super Young Team is in place. Now we just need the signal from Checkmate,” Peter rolls his shoulders trying to shake off his nerves. 

“Once it comes I’ll take Roy into the city and find him a good vantage point,” Wally stands beside Peter and puts a hand on his shoulder. “You’re sure that you’re okay to do this?” 

“Yeah, yeah I know better now. I won’t let Wonder Woman throw me around like a sack of potatoes this time.” 

“Wonder Woman would be offended that you held back,” Roy says. “If you come face to face with her again then you should put your all into the fight.” 

“Yeah he’s right,” Barry agrees. “Diana can handle whatever you throw at her.” 

“Okay, all out against the warrior goddess, got it,” Peter glances down at Damian at his side. He knows that what he has to say next is going to cause a fight. “Dami.” 

“What Parker?” 

“I need you to make me a promise, actually I need all of you to promise me something.” 

“You have our attention,” Barry says. 

“If things go south, if it looks like we’re going to lose then Damian needs to get out of the city.” 

“What!?” Damian turns swiftly to face Peter. 

“I understand,” Barry says. 

“No! No, you don’t understand! I will not be pulled from the battle! If we lose the battle then I will die a warrior's death!” 

“No, you won’t!” Peter snaps back at him. Damian startles and the eyes of his mask widen. “You will survive this fight. I know that you don’t want to be treated like a child but Damian you are one. You’re only eight. You have an entire lifetime ahead of you and I won’t be responsible for you losing that. I won’t be responsible for the death of another person I love and if I let you go into this fight knowing that you’re willing to die for this then it absolutely will be my fault. So if things go wrong on this mission then you get out. Not just for my peace of mind but also because Gotham is going to need you.” 

“Gotham won’t need me,” Damian scoffs. 

“They will need you. Because if we fail this mission then… Then Gotham is going to be your responsibility. They won’t trust an outsider to come in and do things. You’re the heir of the Bat. That means that Gotham is your legacy. Do you understand?” Peter knows it's a low blow but keeping his legacy is the only thing Peter can think of that will convince Damian to listen to him. 

“And who,” Damian says with a quiet voice, “Who will continue my training if you are to perish in battle without me?” 

“My hope is that we’re able to at least try and get your brothers back. Hopefully your dad as well. I’m not going to stop until they’re free. But…” Peter glances at the three heroes beside him. 

“Gotham’s a pretty cool place,” Roy shrugs. “If I’m getting back into the hero gig then I’m going to need somewhere to set up. God forbid, but if something happens on this mission then I’ll stick around until you feel like you’re ready.”

“Do you even have the qualifications necessary for a Gotham vigilante?” Damian asks. 

“Probably not, but you’ll be here to show me the ropes right?” Roy asks.

“I suppose I could lower myself to teaching you,” Damian grumbles. Peter smiles and feels a little bit better. He doesn’t really know Roy but he doesn’t set off Peter’s spider sense at all and despite their estrangement, he was someone that Dick trusted and Wally didn’t seem to have any doubts about bringing him along to this fight. There’s an explosion on the far side of Bludhaven and Peter knows that that’s their signal. The attack is happening.

“It’s time,” He says. 

“See y’all on the other side,” Roy says. Barry and Wally disappear in a blink and probably take Roy with them since he’s gone too. Damian jumps onto Peter’s back and once he's secure on the handholds that Peter built they jump from the roof, the wings of the suit shooting out and taking them across the harbor towards the Bludhaven docks. The wings work perfectly, even with the extra weight of Damian on his back they carry them smoothly and nearly silently across the distance. Peter can’t wait to see the look on Tim’s face when he gets to try them for the first time. He can’t wait for Jason to scold them both for being reckless. He can’t wait to be wrapped up in one of Dick’s ridiculous octopus hugs. 

Peter lands on the dock behind a large stack of shipping containers to keep them hidden from sight. Damian slides off Peter’s back onto one of the shipping containers and silently climbs to the top of the stack. Peter follows him up and they both peek over the top. Everything seems quiet. The streets are empty of any signs of life. It had been like this last time and Peter hadn’t been cautious enough. He hadn’t trusted the buzzing of his spider sense warning him of the danger. 

“You remember the plan,” Peter whispers. Damian nods his head. 

“Total stealth.”

“That’s right,” Peter gives his shoulder a gentle squeeze. Damian leans into his touch for a moment and then slips down to the ground and disappears from sight. Not having his eyes on him gives Peter a little bit of anxiety but he can still hear his heartbeat at least. He climbs over the top of the shipping containers and drops to the ground before heading deeper into the city. He doesn’t know Bludhaven the way that he knows Gotham or New York and since Boss Dark Side had taken over the rebuilding of the city the plans that Peter had found through the government's servers wouldn’t be of much use. He at least had a general idea of the direction that he needed to go and he keeps his ears open as he goes looking for any signs of the Justifiers. 

From the far side of the city, Peter can hear the fighting taking place, the shouts and gunfire, and powers being used. It’s doing its job well enough to attract all the attention from what he can tell. Occasionally a red blur will zip past him without stopping. He’s made it several blocks into the city when he finally does come across a group of the Justifiers. They don’t seem to be any of the heroes he knows though, still, he does his best to get a doohickey on each of their helmets and free them from the mind control. He’s moving more quickly through the city when his spider sense buzzes incessantly and he drops himself to the ground as a manhole cover flies over where his head had just been and crashes through a building. Peter moves quickly, rolling to the side and leaping as far from that spot as he can. 

Wonder Woman’s landing where he’d first dropped leaves behind a crater and Peter thanks whatever deity rules this world that his fight against Beck had helped him to finally figure out how to listen to his Spider sense. He doesn’t get time to really think that though, Wonder Woman’s attacks are quick and merciless. Peter has to keep moving, keep dodging. He knows that Roy and Barry told him to fight her but he’s so used to holding himself back and the fact that she isn’t even aware makes him hesitant. He figures that the weird mask on her face must be how Dark Side is controlling her instead of a helmet. If he could just get his hand on it maybe he could get it off. Maybe he could free her. 

He doesn’t know where she produces the spear from and he does not want to find out what it will feel like if it hits him. He leaps over her head and turns quickly kicking out to knock her legs out from under her. It doesn’t last long though, she recovers quickly and begins her onslaught of attacks again. But Peter doesn’t feel as bad now. He used a good majority of his strength for that kick and it barely seemed to hurt her. He's more confident now as he starts to fight back against her. At least until she grabs a hold of the back of the wingsuit and uses it to spin him around and around before throwing him through the concrete of a half constructed building. 

“Oh that sucked,” Peter groans as he pulls himself out of the rubble of cement. He shrugs off the now ruined wingsuit and feels bad that he let it get broken before Tim ever got the chance to try it, but he promises to build it again once all of this is over. An even better one if he can. Through the hole his body left in the building he can see Wonder Woman approaching him once again. “Okay. Okay, Spider-man you’ve got this.” Peter tells himself, stepping back out onto the street. 

That’s all the break he gets. The fight continues on, at some point he hears Damian move on ahead without him the way that they’d discussed. If Peter is held up here too long their whole plan could be ruined. He hates the idea of the kid going out there alone but hopefully the Flashes and Arsenal are out there somewhere if he needs help and if Damian follows orders then he should stick to the shadows and out of trouble until he can figure out where Batman is being held. 

“Look Wonder Woman,” Peter says as he ducks out of the way of her spear and kicks her in the stomach. “I really don’t think we need to be fighting here. Like I’ve only been here for a few months but I am totally a fan. Red Hood has made sure of that but also like fanboying about badass women is kind of one of my things. You should meet my girlfriend. She’d love you. I mean she wouldn’t love the currently trying to kill me thing you’ve got going on but like the rest of it she’d be totally on board with.” 

“Silence you little pest!” Wonder woman yells at him, but she falters just a bit before she says it. Not a lot, but it was something and Peter really hopes that the something was her fighting against the control. 

“Ooh yeah silence is totally not my thing.” Peter ducks low to avoid a punch and shoots out a web to pull himself away from her. “Like its basically my brand to be talking during fights you know? If I got quiet my normal rogues would be totally weirded out. They’d probably think I was an imposter or broken or something. Oh Shi-oot!” Peter dives to the side as some sort of green energy blasts towards him. His spider sense buzzes in the base of his neck and he spins around quickly to see a woman floating in the air. He knows her too and really wishes that he could stop being forced to fight people that are supposed to be on the same side. 

“You are in the way,” Starfire announces, raising her hand with that glowing green energy around it again. Peter really really does not want to know what that feels like when it hits. His attention on Starfire would probably be his downfall if it wasn’t for his spider sense. He flips out of the way of Wonder Woman’s spear, just barely missing him. He has to move faster, dodging both the physical and energy attacks now. He gets blasted once in the back by Starfire’s power and it sends him back into the building he’d hit the first time. He’s thankful that the hole he already left in it keeps him from going through it again. 

“Okay no more buildings please and thank you,” Peter mumbles as he looks around the building that he’d ended up in. He pauses eyes his eyes scan over it once more. Its clearly still under construction. Nothing but cement and support beams. For just a second he’s back in his own world, buried under rubble. “Oh.” He says as he realizes what he has to do. Starfire and Wonder Woman are coming for him so this time Peter goes further into the building. He dodges their attacks as they come. Moving to different spots of the room to draw Starfire’s blasts and using his webs to move quickly, spreading them throughout the room. It only takes a few minutes to put his full plan into action and within moments he’s slipping back out through the opening the wall with two handfuls of web. 

“I am so so so sorry about this but I’m like 75% sure this won’t hurt either of you too bad!” Peter calls, then he tugs with all his strength on the webs, pulling down the few supports that had been left. It works just like he knew it would and the whole building comes tumbling down on the both of them. Peter flinches a bit at the sound and the sight of the dust that goes everywhere. He’s sure that it won’t hold them for long though so he shoots out a web and swings through Bludhaven following after the sound of Damian’s heartbeat. 

He makes it to Damian just in time to see the kid in a fight against one of the Justifiers. Peter is about to swing down to get between them when he hears the twang of a bow and an arrow hits the Justifier in the head knocking him back. Peter looks up towards the rooftops and just barely catches a glimpse of Arsenal as he takes off. Peter lands beside Damian and quickly looks him over for any injuries. 

“Are you okay?” He asks. 

“I am unharmed,” Damian says, then he points at the Justifier still on the ground. “I believe that Nightwing will have a bit of a headache.” 

“Nightwing?” Peter looks more closely and realizes that Damian is right. “Nightwing!” He moves quickly to the man’s side and carefully removes the helmet from his head. 

“I could have taken him on my own,” Damian says as he crouches down on Dick’s other side. 

“You wish,” Dick groans as he opens his eyes and props himself up on his elbows and looks around. “What’s going on?” 

“You allowed yourself to be mind controlled,” Damian says. “I was in the process of freeing you myself when that damned archer interrupted.” 

“Yes and you’re going to write him a nice thank you letter later for preventing you from having to fight your brother,” Peter tells him. He helps Dick sit up fully and checks him over for injuries. 

“Okay… I think I need a full rundown,” Dick says. 

“Do you think you can move?” Peter asks. “We kinda shouldn’t stay here because I really pissed some people off and it sounds like they’re going to get free soon.” 

“Did you not defeat Wonder Woman?” Damian asks. “You are too weak hearted.” 

“Of course I didn’t defeat Wonder Woman, she's Wonder Woman! Also Starfire joined her and that building I dropped on them is not going to hold forever. So Nightwing, are you good?” 

“Yeah I guess I have to be,” Dick nods then gets to his feet. He stares down at the helmet on the ground when he spots it and gives it a good kick. 

“Oh we brought your stuff!” Peter says. He pulls Damian closer and moves his cloak aside to get Dick’s Escrima sticks from his back. 

“Did you bring everyone’s stuff?” Dick asks as he notices the equipment they’re both carrying. 

“You all have been under Dark Side's control for a long time,” Peter admits.

“Six weeks in total,” Damian adds.

“Who is us all?” Dick asks, he takes his utility belt from Damian and straps it around his own waist before clipping his sticks to it. Peter and Damian share a brief look. Dick frowns as he pulls a comm piece from his belt and slips it into his ear.

“Everyone that isn’t me and Dami, possibly Oracle but if it's really her she hasn’t revealed herself.” Peter admits. Dick’s eyes widen and he looks them both over once again. 

“You two have been on your own for six weeks? What about Agent A?” 

“We aren’t sure. We got locked out of the manor and the cave though so maybe, but with Batman captured and his identity probably leaked it wouldn’t have been safe there,” Peter says. He rocks back on his heels and listens for everything going on throughout the city. They don’t have much longer before they need to get a move on. 

“Jesus I’m sorry you guys,” Dick pulls them both into tight hugs. Peter melts into it. Damian’s not really a touchy kid and Peter has really needed a good hug. “Wait, what is that?” Dick lets go of them and Peter definitely doesn’t whine as Dick turns him around to get a look at his back. Peter knows that his suit probably didn’t hold up to Starfire’s attacks and the itching of his skin tells him that his healing factor is working very slowly on whatever injury is there. 

“It’s fine,” Peter says. “We’ve really got to go. We still need to find Batman and the others.” 

“Spider-man,” Dick says. 

“It’s fine,” Peter insists. “Let’s go.” He shoots off a web and swings off away from them before anymore can be said about it. Peter knows that he’s just worried about him but they can’t let themselves relax yet. There’s still work to be done and if Peter lets himself relax a bit he’s not sure he’ll be able to keep going. He just needs to get through this mission then he can relax. Just get through one more day. One more day. 

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter doesn’t know if something went wrong with the other teams or if his admittedly loud fight with Wonder Woman and Starfire brought attention to him but the streets seem to now be flooded with Justifiers and these creepy winged alien looking things. Dick says they’re called parademons and Peter wishes they would just go away. He stays high, jumping from scaffolding and construction equipment and webs up the wings of the Parademons and knock them down to the ground where Nightwing and Fledgling fight side by side to take them down for good. Peter does his best to listen as they move, using his enhanced hearing to pay attention to the city as a whole, he catalogs the sounds he recognizes. The Flashes hummingbird hearts, the twang of a bow and arrow, the sounds of gunshots. 

“Red Hood is back!” Peter calls down to Dick and Damian. “He’s with Arsenal! Karen, can you connect us?” 

“I am bringing him online,” Karen tells him. A moment later their comms are filled with familiar curses. 

“Red hood!” Peter calls as he flips backward off a crane and yanks two of the Parademons to the ground. He uses the momentum to knock a justifier away from Damian as he lands. 

“Spider-man!” Jason calls back. “Are you good?” 

“I’m doing so great,” Peter lies. He’s exhausted, his muscles burn from overuse and his stomach aches. He’d been too nervous to eat the night before and he can’t remember when the last time he slept was. Not to mention the burns and bruises from his fight with Wonder Woman and Starfire. 

“Little Wing are you okay?” Dick asks. 

“Arsenal shot me in the head so I’m all back to myself,” Jason says. 

“You’re welcome,” Roy answers, sounding a bit out of breath. Peter remembers him saying he’d been retired before all this and he hopes that he’s not pushing himself too hard.  

“Parker is at less than optimal performance,” Damian helpfully adds. 

“Names,” Peter and Dick remind him at the same time. Damian scowls at them both. 

“He’s injured,” Damian insists. 

“I’m healing,” Peter adds. 

“He hasn’t eaten, his healing is delayed,” Damian snaps back. 

“Incoming,” Peter says instead of answering and jumping up to knock down a few more Parademons. 

“I’ve got something for that!” Wally calls. There’s a blur of red and then Wally is skidding to a stop beside Dick. He pulls him forward into a quick kiss and then tosses a nutrition bar to Peter. “That’ll help. Actually, eat it please.” Is all he gets out before Dick pulls him into another kiss. Peter catches the bar, his stomach is churning but he forces himself to eat a couple of bites quickly while there’s a lull in the fighting.

“Are you okay?” Dick asks as he looks Wally over, similar to the way he had Peter and Damian when he’d first gotten free of the helmet. 

“Yeah, I’m peachy. Me and Barry went back. We were looking into Orion’s death. Guess we misjudged the return. We did come across something though. We think that there’s a way to defeat Darkseid. We’re going to have to go back into the timestream though for a bit and it’s going to take some time. Do you guys think you can help hold things down until then?” 

“Yes. Do what you need to do,” Dick tells him. Peter feels a bit bad that he and Damian are here to witness their reunion. He knows that it probably doesn’t feel like any time has passed for Wally since he was traveling through time and Peter doesn’t know how much of his time as a Justifier that Dick remembers but he remembers how it was back in his universe. He remembers watching the worry on Pepper or face when a mission went long. But there’s no time for them to have a proper reunion here. That will have to wait until the end of this mess. Until they can take down Darkseid. 

“Okay. I do have something for you guys,” Wally admits. “I know how most of you feel about guns but.” From one of the pouches of his suit, Wally pulls out a strange clear bullet with something weird inside it. 

“What is that?” Damian asks. 

“This is what killed Orion,” Wally explains. “Batman was studying it. I went to get it. Thought that maybe it could be used on Darkseid.” 

“We’ll take it,” Damian says resolutely. 

“Dami…” Dick says hesitantly. Peter’s seen everyone in the family use guns at one point or another. Never in the field besides Jason, but Peter knows they’d all been trained extensively on how to handle firearms. It would have been foolish not to, not when they’re facing them so often. 

“Fledgling is right,” Peter says. He takes the bullet carefully from Wally and slips it into one of the pouches on Batman’s utility belt. “It doesn’t hurt to have a backup plan.” Wally nods his head at him and then takes one last look at Dick before he speeds off once again. 

“Alright,” Dick concedes. “You’ve been dealing with this from the outside so I’ll follow your lead.” 

“I don’t know about all that,” Peter says hesitantly. It’s one thing to lead Damian, to teach him. But Dick is not only older but he has more experience as a hero and as a leader. Plus Peter’s not a planner when it comes to being Spider-man. He’s much more comfortable just winging things and letting his instincts and powers show him what to do. 

“I agree with Nightwing,” Damian says, moving to stand at Peter’s side. “I shall follow your lead.” 

“My rules from before still stand,” Peter reminds him. He can feel Damian’s glower through his mask. 

“What are the rules and what was your plan?” Dick asks. Peter’s fingers fidget with one of the pouches on Batman’s belt as he considers it. 

“Damian needs to stick to the shadows. He’s good at fighting but stealth gives him a huge advantage and it keeps him safe. The plan was to find all of you. I have an idea of where they might be keeping Batman. I thought that if we could get him free then he’d know what to do next,” Peter admits with a shrug. It wasn’t a full plan. Get into Bludhaven, get Batman, and find the family. That’s all Peter could focus on. They’ve got Dick and Jason back but Tim and Steph and Cass are still out there. Peter’s a bit torn though, because now that there are more of them they could split up. If they split up then some of them could look for the others and some of them could look for Bruce. Jason and Roy are still further out in the city, they could easily start the search for the others but is Peter the right person to go after Batman? Should he drag Damian into further danger? Why is it his job to make these choices? He’s tired and hurting and he’s had to be the responsible one for so long. But Dick is right he’s been under control this whole time and he might not know exactly what they’re going into so its best if Peter does take the lead. He has the most knowledge about the situation. So he just needs to do it. Put on his big boy pants and be a leader. They’re counting on him. He can’t fail them. He can’t make any more mistakes. Not again. Not after last time.

“Pete,” Dick says softly as he places both hands on Peter’s shoulders and leans down so they’re face to face. “Take a breath for me bud.” Peter grips his arms tightly and forces himself to breathe deeply.

“Sorry,” He mumbles. “Sorry, I just need… I just need a second.” 

“It’s alright. You’ve been through a lot in a short period of time,” Dick pulls him into a tight hug and Peter lets himself be weak for just a second. He rests his head on Dick’s shoulder and tries to measure his breaths. “You’ve both been through a lot. If you need me to take this I will.” 

“I need a nap,” Peter says with a concerningly wet sounding laugh. Is he crying? When did he start crying? He’s glad his mask at least covers his face. 

“Yeah,” Dick says, resting his head against Peter’s. “I imagine you do. We’re going to get through this and you’re going to be able to take as long a nap as you want.” 

“Thank god for that,” Peter mumbles. “I know that I could do it. I know that I can but… I think that everyone will trust your directions more and I just don’t have the experience with this kind of stuff that you have. Can I ask for help?” 

“You can. You did a good job,” Dick promises him. 

“Okay, that’s good,” Peter lets himself slump fully against Dick for a moment. Let himself be held up for just a minute instead of standing on his own. He could do it. He could continue to stand tall and fight and probably get through this but he doesn’t have to. Tony and the Avengers helped him learn that a long time ago, everything goes better when they work together. It’s alright to need help. Damian’s hand slips into Peter’s where it hangs limply at his side and he gives the small hand a gentle squeeze. 

“Alright,” Dick says into the open comm. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Red Hood and Arsenal there are more heroes out there still being controlled. We need to get them free so keep working on that. I’d feel a lot better if we could locate Robin, Orphan, and Spoiler but I don’t know for sure that they’re in this city so just keep an eye out and assist the other teams out there. I’m sending Fledgling to you as well.” 

“What!” Damian shouts. “No, I'm going with you and Spider-man!” 

“No,” Dick’s voice is gentle but firm. “Spider-man and I are going to look for where they’re keeping their prisoners. I need you assisting Red Hood.” 

“Spider-man said that I had to stay close to him!” Damian tries. Peter drags himself away from Dick’s hold to stand up straight. 

“The deal was that you stay close until we find the others,” Peter reminds him. “We’ve found some of them. Red Hood and Arsenal are outnumbered here and they’ll need all the help they can get.” 

“Fine,” Damian grumbles as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Akhi what is your location?” 

“We’re on the east side of the city. We’re staying high but we’ll head in your direction.” 

“I am coming,” Damian says. He glares at both Peter and Dick before shooting his grappling gun and taking off to the east. Peter knows that there will be hell to pay for this later but at least he didn’t put up too much of a fight. Probably because he’s missed Jason just as much as Peter has these last six weeks. 

“How has he been handling things?” Dick asks. 

“He’s been… He’s been pretty good. Lonely I think. There’s been no word from his mom or the League of Assassins either so we aren’t sure what's going on with them. Plus obviously, you guys are his real family and we didn’t know where all of you were. I think he handled it the best he could. There was a lot of crime fighting to be done and he’s been taking care of a lot of animals so it kept him busy at least.” 

“Hey, you're just as much his family as the rest of us. I’m sorry that you guys had to go through it alone,” Dick says, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. 

“We’ll live,” Peter shrugs. 

“You said you had an idea where B might be?” 

“Yeah, I haven’t been able to get into the city on my own but I’ve been able to fly a few drones over it and there’s a section of the city where they’ve been building underground. I think it’s the most likely location of any prisoners they’ve been keeping,” Peter starts moving in the direction of the underground base he’d spotted. “They’ve been doing research on cloning so I’m not too sure that bodes well for us but I don’t think they’ve had any luck with it yet.”

“God, the last thing we need is a clone of B running around,” Dick says as he follows.

“Well, hopefully, it fails as bad as Robin’s attempts,” Peter jokes, remembering the story Tim had told him about his failed attempts to clone Kon. 

“I heard that,” Tim’s voice comes over the comms. 

“Robin!” Peter can’t help but shout. He covers his mouth with both his hands. Dick snorts out a laugh.

“You’re welcome,” Damian’s voice comes. “I have yet again proven myself to be superior to Robin and freed him from control” 

“Shut up demon brat,” Tim snaps at him.

“Admit defeat, Drake,” Dick lets out a laugh at their bickering, a bright smile on his face now as they move through the weird mixture of destruction and rebuilding that the city of Bludhaven has been left in. Peter is filled with relief, the more of the family they rescue the easier it will be to win. 

“Missed you too Spider-man,” Robin says with laughter in his voice. Part of Peter wishes that he could just abandon his current mission and go to check that Jason and Tim are really okay but he knows that would do more harm than good. He has to trust them to be able to take care of themselves for now but he’s definitely going to be giving them the biggest hugs he can when he sees them again. 

“I rescued him,” Damian brags, “Proving once again that I am superior. Isn’t that right Drake.”

“Names,” It’s Jason's turn to remind him. 

“You just got a lucky shot,” Tim snaps. 

“Guys focus,” Dick reminds him. He and Peter come to a stop as they finally reach their destination. A pretty nondescript building sits before them, the only one the construction has been fully completed on, but Peter can hear the sounds of construction continuing from deep underground, spreading out through the city. Dick signals for them to take cover and they both duck beneath a piece of construction equipment just as a group of parademons pass overhead and disappear into the building. “Is this it?” Dick asks quietly. Peter nods his head then closes his eyes and tries to focus on his hearing, the way that Daredevil had taught him and Superman had helped him to hone. He can practically see the building beneath them, the long metal hallways that Justifiers and Parademons patrol. Down and down to the large lab full of glass tubes of some sort of liquid. It's there that the faint but familiar heartbeat of Batman is coming from. He’s there, and he’s alive. There are just forty floors of enemies between them and rescuing him. Peter rests his forehead on the ground and breathes deeply taking stock of his body. 

“He’s here,” He whispers back to Dick. His back is getting better, the burns seem to be closing up but the tightness of his skin tells him that it might scar if he doesn’t take care. He doesn’t often scar, his body heals up quickly enough to prevent it, but that only really works if he does give the injuries time to fully heal without disturbing them. There have been times that he hasn’t been able to do that when he had to keep fighting through the healing process. The burns will be the same. Through the HUD of his lenses, he can see that a good twenty-five percent of the back of his suit has been damaged which means that the burns on his back are probably on a bit less than that. He wonders if it will affect the scars he’d had from homecoming when the building had collapsed on him. If these burns will overwrite that. 

“How bad is it?” Dick asks. Peter considers how long he could get away with sleeping here on the ground. 

“He’s forty floors down, there’s at least a hundred and fifty heartbeats in the building between us and him. There is an elevator shaft though, if we can get into it without triggering any alarms then maybe we can make it down to that floor. There’s only four people on it right now from what I can tell but at this distance, I don’t know how accurate my hearing is.” 

“Okay, we’ll work with that then. I want you to get in there and get to the elevator shaft. I’m going to go in another way and make a scene,” Dick says. 

“What? No way you’ll be way outnumbered. We should stick together and get Batman out,” Peter doesn’t want to go alone. He doesn’t want this to be his sole responsibility. He doesn’t want to fail this new family he’s found for himself. He reaches out to grip Dick’s arm and retracts his mask before pulling off the domino so that his full face is visible. “We have to stick together.” 

“It’s going to be alright little Spider,” Dick promises him. “Red Hood, can you send some back up my way?” 

“Me and Arsenal are about to have your very blast happy Ex free. I’m sure she’d just love to save your ass for the billionth time princess,” Jason answers. 

“I can just feel the brotherly love,” Dick sighs. “Alright, Star can catch up with me. Spider-man, are you ready?” 

“Do I have a choice?” Peter grumbles into the ground before pushing himself back up onto his elbows. “Yes, I’m ready.” Dick places a hand on top of Peter’s and gives it a gentle squeeze. Peter forces himself to flash a smile then sticks his domino mask back onto his face. 

“See you on the other side,” Dick rolls back out into the open then takes off. Peter listens until he enters the building then crawls out from under their hiding spot as well. Dick’s diversion has already worked pretty well. That combined with the stealth training Peter’s gotten from Cass means that he’s able to get into the building and find the elevator without anyone even knowing he’s there. 

“Karen,” He whispers to her as he crouches below the elevator panel. 

“Yes, Spider-man?” Karen replies. 

“I need this elevator opened and without an alarm can I do that?” 

“I am not detecting any security alarms on the elevator. The car is currently on Basement level twenty-three,” she tells him. Peter’s not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. At least it means that it can’t be dropped on him or something but he’ll have to get below it to get down to Bruce. He listens briefly for any incoming people then grabs ahold of the elevator doors and pries them open just enough for him to slip through. He sticks to the wall of the elevator shaft with his hands and uses one foot to push the doors closed again. It feels practically too easy, but so far his Spider sense hasn’t gone crazy so he uses his webs to start lowering himself down quickly but carefully. 

He’d been able to hear the chatter of his teammates over his comms up until now and it's been a comforting reminder that he wasn’t actually out here doing this alone but the lower he went the more static he started getting over them instead and it becomes so distracting that he has to have Karen silence them. He knows she’ll tell him if anything important comes up but they might lose the connection totally as he goes further down. 

Once he reaches the elevator car he considers what the best way to get past it would be. He’s pretty sure he could actually fit between the car and the wall if he flattened himself out as much as possible but he’s had enough bad experiences with elevators to not like the idea of one hanging above his head. The easiest option would be to have Karen send it down to forty-one but moving it might alert someone. He stands on the top of the car and considers his options. High above him he hears the sounds of Starfire’s blasts joining the chaos of the fighting and feels a little better about having to separate from Dick. It also adds a lot more noise. 

“Alright Karen kill as much power as you can to the building without causing anything too damaging,” Peter tells her. It only takes a second before he can hear the electricity powering down. Peter moves quickly attaching a good number of webs to the top of the elevator car. He’s pretty sure it’s just a passenger elevator so it shouldn’t weigh more than five thousand pounds but he can’t be sure so he adds extra webs just in case before he squeezes himself down between the car and the wall. It’s a tight squeeze without a lot of wiggle room and Peter takes a moment to be thankful his spider side mostly got rid of his claustrophobia. Once he’s through to the other side he lets himself drop a few floors to speed things up before catching hold of the wall and glancing at the nearest door to see where he is. The numbers read thirty-nine and he’s pretty proud of himself for judging the distance correctly. He sticks himself to the wall and climbs down head first just a few more feet until he’s at the right door. 

It takes pretty much nothing for him to pry the doors open just enough for him to slip his body through and then he crawls along the ceiling of the long hallway it lets out towards the sound of the lab he can hear further down. There are a few people down here aside from Bruce but as far as Peter can tell they’re most likely just the scientists. He finds the double doors that lead into the lab and pushes them open silently before crawling into the room and closing it once again just as carefully. 

The room is really giving stereotypical evil scientist vibes, with large tubes of a light blue liquid and lots of large chords and tubes leading everywhere. It gives Peter a lot of hiding spots as he moves across the ceiling and into the part of the room with the most activity. Bruce is there as expected, strapped down to a table with some sort of mask over his face. Peter finds the perfect position for himself then holding onto the ceiling with just his hands he swings his feet down kicking two of the scientists right in the chests. One of them is knocked back into the third scientist and they all hit the ground. Peter drops down quickly and webs all of them up before moving between each of them and pulling the helmets off their heads. He webs their mouths shut just in case then moves quickly to Bruce’s side. 

“Karen get the computers in here back online I need to know what’s up before I start unplugging shit,” he says, breaking the straps holding Bruce down. The computers in the room come back online and Peter moves to the closest one quickly going through all of the information he can find on it. He grabs a flash drive from his pocket and plugs it in. “Let’s bring all of this back to Oracle.” While Karen works on downloading the data Peter moves back to Bruce’s side and removes the IV from his arm and the mask from his face. There’s a cabinet of medical supplies nearby so he breaks the lock open and looks through everything inside it carefully. 

There’s a groan behind him as Bruce starts to wake up. Peter grabs a few things that he thinks might come in handy and hurries back to the bed to help Bruce sit up. 

“Whoa take it slow,” Peter tells him as he puts a hand on Bruce’s arm to hold him steady. 

“Spider-man?” Bruce asks as his eyes dart around the room cataloging all of the information he can find. 

“Yep,” Peter grins at him. “Sorry to interrupt your nap but shits getting weird topside and we could really use some help.” 

“You’re here alone?” Bruce asks, worry in his voice. 

“Nope, Nightwing and Starfire are upstairs waiting for us. Robin and Red Hood are outside dealing with things there with the other teams. They’ve got Fledgling with them too,” He makes sure that Bruce doesn’t look like he’s going to try standing up too soon and hurries around the room looking for any of Bruce’s belongings. Luckily he finds the batsuit shoved into a closet and pulls it out to bring it over to Bruce. “You’re going to need this.” 

“Spider-man,” Bruce says, his voice stern. Peter pauses and turns to meet his gaze. 

“Present,” he says quietly. 

“Is everyone okay?” 

“A few people are still unaccounted for. Orphan, Batwoman, Spoiler. What… What do you remember?” 

“I was investigating Orion’s death. The lanterns were compromised. What is the date?” 

“June fourteenth,” Peter tells him as he grabs the flash drive back out of the computer and stores it in his belt.

“My last memories are from April eleventh,” Bruce says. Peter had a feeling that was going to be the case. He can’t imagine that they’d want Bruce conscious while they were experimenting on him if they could help it. Bruce braces himself on the bed they’d had him on and pushes to his feet. Peter holds out his hands ready to catch him if necessary but he stays standing and takes his suit from Peter to start getting dressed. Peter hovers nearby in case he needs help but he does seem to be regaining his strength the more he moves. Peter’s surprised he’s not weaker after being held here for so long. 

“It’s been a long two months,” Peter admits. “I’m glad that you’re back now, I’m glad that everyone is back now…” 

“Can you tell me what we’re up against?” Bruce pulls on his cape and slips the cowl over his head. He fixes his gloves and then his gaze falls to the utility belt that hangs from Peter’s waist. 

“Oh!” Peter moves quickly to take the belt off and he hears something hit the ground as he hands it over. He looks down and sees the bullet he’d taken from Flash earlier, crouching down he picks the bullet off the floor and eyes it. He doesn’t even know if it’ll really work on Boss Dark Side or Darkseid or whatever he’s calling himself now. But if there’s a chance then they have to take it. “I’ll fill you in on the way out to join the fighting.” 

“That’s the Radion bullet,” Bruce says as he clips his belt into place. “The one they took out of Orion’s body.” 

“Flash gave it to me. He thought that it might work against Dark Side, the big bad. I thought maybe I could get it to Jason,” Peter admits. 

“Let’s get out there and regroup with the others,” Bruce says. He holds out his hand to Peter. “I’ll hold onto the bullet.” 

“You don’t use guns,” Peter points out as he hands it over. 

“No, but there’s an exception for everything. Especially when my people are put in harm's way,” Bruce’s fist closes around the bullet clenching his fist before he slips it into his utility belt. Peter nods his head and he leads Bruce back out to the elevator. There’s a tight feeling in his chest that he can’t seem to shake as he fills Bruce in on everything that’s gone down since his capture. It’s almost over, it's almost done. Peter knows he can keep going, and knows that he can keep fighting. They’re so close, they’ve almost freed everyone. Together they’ll be able to stop all of this. He’s sure of it. He just needs to keep going, just a bit longer. You can do this Spider-man.

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter Parker is two months shy of eighteen years old and he’s pretty sure that he could safely say he’s been to war twice and doesn’t think that anyone would argue with him about it. As he stands in the middle of the battlefield that was once Bludhaven he feels like his vision is split in two. Parademon or Outrider? Black order or Furies? Peter doesn’t know, everything is blending together. His suit is ripped and torn and he goes from fighting back to back with Nightwing to throwing Arsenal up into the air so he can shoot a rapid fire of arrows down into a large gathering that had surrounded Robin. 

The Justice league begins to arrive in groups to join the fighting and Peter tries not to let the sting of being kept in the dark about their whereabouts these past few months. He’d had an inkling that Oracle had been out there running the rebellion behind the scenes but he and Fledgling had been kept isolated in Gotham while refugees were gathering at the Hall of Justice and sure maybe Peter wouldn’t have been willing to go, maybe he would have still chosen to stay in Gotham to keep the city and the people safe but Damian had been in danger every single day and if Peter had known he could have gotten Damian to the Hall of Justice where the other heroes could have protected him. Instead, Peter had felt that the only choice was to keep Damian with him. To let him into fights too big for an eight year old child no matter the level of training he’d had as a child. But Peter doesn’t have the time to think about that because the fighting feels never ending. 

He moves through the fighting, spotting Red Hood and Wonder Woman fighting together with Fledgling sticking close to them. Robin is wreaking havoc on a gathering of Justifiers as Orphan moves between them like a dancer sticking them with the small white dots to disrupt the mind control. Everything is spinning around Peter as he fights and he knows that if he stops, if he slows down, if he just takes a deep breath his body might give up on him. Adrenaline is the only thing keeping him going. His healing factor can’t keep up with his injuries and his exhaustion and he’s entirely sure that he’s burned off the nutrition bar Flash had given him hours ago. 

And then just like that, it seems that everything comes to a stop all at once. It takes a few seconds for Peter’s brain to catch onto the fact that his body has stopped moving. As soon as it does he starts to go down but suddenly Red Hood is at his side slinging Peter’s arm over his shoulder to keep him up. 

“I’ve got you, kid,” Jason says. Peter can hear the older teen's exhaustion in his voice, he struggles to focus on the scene before him. Where Batman and Darkseid face each other. For a second it shifts to Thanos and Tony, then Robin pulls Peter’s free arm over his shoulder as well and Peter is jolted back to the present. He registers that Fledgling and Nightwing appear beside them and he’s got the feeling that Orphan has been beside him for a while. Not too far away Spoiler sits on the ground her hood pushed down and her blonde hair sticking out every which way. They’re all together again. It only feels good for a moment. For just a moment until Batman raises a gun and fires the radion bullet. Batman fires the radion bullet and from his throne, Darkseid shoots out some sort of beam of energy that hits Batman in the chest. There is a bright flash of light and then an explosion. 

Someone is yelling. Peter’s ears are ringing too much to be able to tell who it is. But suddenly Superman is there shooting over the battle to where Batman and Darkseid had been a moment before. It seems like everyone is holding their breath for the few seconds it takes for Superman to emerge from the cloud of dust. Batman’s body lying limply in his arms. 

Peter isn’t sure he was fully conscious after that. Darkseid is definitely dead but his death seems to do something to the rest of the world around them. Like a blackhole has opened from the point where the bullet hit him. Peter’s spider sense screams and he sees himself back on Titan feeling as if his body broke apart. One second Peter is sure that they’ve failed. That he’s failed. That the world is going to end, and he feels himself and everyone around him disappearing, maybe dying. And then the next everything stopped and it returned to normal. Peter is still propped up between Robin and Red Hood and Nightwing has grabbed ahold of Fledgling to keep him from running to Batman. To keep him from running to his father’s body. Superman is coming towards them, the heroes between them parting. Paying respect. Peter’s mind flashes a moment, seeing Tony’s burnt body lying in Captain America’s arms. Batman’s body has wasted away. Whatever it is that Darkseid hit him with it’s left him almost nothing more than a skeleton. Peter tightens his grip on Robin and Red Hood. Offering them the only support he can give as they realize their father is really gone. 

“We have to make a decision,” Tim says. It’s the first time anyone has spoken in far too long. Everyone is gathered in the Batcave sitting around a large circular table. They haven’t had the time to change out of their suits yet. Covered in the remnants of their fighting, the leather of his chair is cold against Peter’s bare back.

“Robin,” Dick says, his voice laced with exhaustion. Everyone has been tense since they left Bludhaven behind. Since they stood there and watched as Superman carried Batman’s broken body away from the destruction of the final fight. Batman, Bruce, whose body was currently in a cold metal box in the Batcave's morgue, because of course for some reason none of them wanted to think about the Batcave has a morgue. 

“Tim’s right,” Jason says. “We can’t all just fucking sit here moping around forever. Gotham sure as fuck isn’t going to wait. I say we stick the old bastard in the ground and get on with things.” 

“Jason, he needs a proper funeral,” Kate says.

“Unlike the bullshit one he gave me?” Jason snaps back. Cass lays her hand on Jason’s arm to keep him from getting up out of his seat. He’s nearly come to blows with all of them by now. His eyes are more green than blue by this point. He’s clearly struggling with it. 

"You had a funeral Jason. I was there, my dad was there," Barbara reminds him. Jason's hands tighten on the arms of his chair and Peter hears something crack. 

“How the fuck is Gotham going to deal without Batman?” Steph asks, twisting her chair back and forth in a nervous tic. 

“Gotham was just fine without Batman while all of you allowed yourselves to be captured,” Damian crosses his arms. “Me and Parker can continue to handle things.” 

“We weren’t dealing with the full force of Gotham though Dami,” Peter reminds him gently, he’s been doing his best to keep Damian calm but there isn’t much they can do in the face of the fact that Damian was out there, he saw his Father die. Peter brought him into the battle and because of him, Damian had experienced something Peter didn’t want for any child. His fault.

“Without Darkseid’s control anymore and with rumors spreading about Batman’s death the rogues of Gotham are going to run wild,” Dick tells them all sternly. “This place is going to be a shit show. Our biggest concern is going to be keeping the truth from getting out.” 

“How?” Cass asks. Peter’s pretty sure she’s also trying to keep everybody calm. 

“People need to know that Gotham is still protected. We’re going to need to increase our numbers,” Dick turns his head to look at Barbara.

“I’ve reached out to the Network, there are several heroes willing to lend themselves to helping us.” 

“But what about Batman?” Tim asks. “Without the symbol of Batman things aren’t going to calm down.” 

“Batman’s dead Tim. There’s nothing we can do about that,” Steph says. 

“Then someone needs to put on the suit and show them that he’s still here,” Tim snaps back at her.

“No one is putting on the batsuit,” Dick says sternly. “We are going to handle this and we don’t need Batman to do it.” 

“What about Bruce?” Kate asks. “If Bruce and Batman both disappear people might get ideas.” 

“We might have a solution for that,” Dick admits. “Every now and then there are rumors about Bruce off in some other part of the country causing problems. Up until now, it hasn’t been an issue but… well it might be time to bring good old Uncle Thomas home for a visit.” 

“Uncle Thomas?” Peter asks. 

“It’s kind of complicated,” Tim tells him. “But I’ll explain the whole thing later.” 

“Alright,” Peter nods and fidgets with one of his web shooters twisting it around his wrist. 

“Timbo is right,” Jason says after a few more moments of tense silence. “Gotham needs Batman.” 

“No one is putting on the suit,” Dick brings a hand up to rub at his temples and Peter feels bad that there’s nothing he can do to help right now. They’re all dealing with the death of their father, mentor, or cousin, and there’s no time for them to sit with their grief. Gotham won’t give them the time. Peter wants to help them. He wants to be able to go out there and hold down Gotham on his own so they have time to grieve properly. To take off their suits and bury their father. But his body hurts so much. He isn’t even sure he’ll be able to get out of this chair without sleeping at least a few hours, preferably twenty-four. 

“I believe that it is time for all of us to rest,” Alfred says as he re-enters the room and stands beside Dick’s chair. “Decisions made with exhaustion and hunger will get us nowhere.” It’s easy to see that everyone wants to argue, that they want to fight resting but out of all of them Alfred is probably taking this the hardest. Bruce was his son. His son died. Peter wonders if he should have kept the bullet for himself. If he should have been the one to shoot Darkseid. Maybe he could have survived the omega sanction. Maybe he could have survived the infinity stones. His fault.

“Alfred’s right,” Dick concedes. “We should all sleep here tonight, and in the morning we’ll finalize our plans.” 

Jason is the first to get up, moving so abruptly that his chair is nearly knocked backward, but instead of heading for the stairs or the elevator he goes to his bike and he’s gone before anyone can protest. Peter’s pretty sure that he should go after him. It’s most likely that he’ll go back to the Opera house and while Peter’s pretty sure Jason would be able to get through the security Peter added he doesn’t want him to be there alone right now. Cass and Steph leave together and Kate pushes Barbara’s wheelchair to the elevator as they speak in low voices. 

“Master Damian,” Alfred says to the young boy.

“I’m not tired,” Damian speaks through a yawn as his eyes droop and his body sways in his seat. Dick watches him for a moment then gets to his feet and lifts Damian into his arms before he can protest. He heads upstairs as Damian starts to argue about not being a child.

“You both should find your beds as well,” Alfred reminds Tim and Peter before following them up. Peter turns his head to look at Tim where he sits slouched in his chair, dark hair covering his eyes. 

“Timmy?” Peter says gently. 

“Peter,” Tim mumbles back.

“What’s going on in that big head of yours?” Peter asks. 

“Something just… Something doesn’t feel right,” Tim admits. “It doesn’t feel like this is real. Like there’s some clue out there that we’re missing that will tell us we were wrong… Like… Like Bruce is alive out there somewhere and we’re supposed to be finding him.” 

“Tim…” Peter hesitates. He doesn’t know what he can say now to make things better. He doesn’t know how he can fix this for them. He remembers feeling the same way when Tony had died. He remembers kneeling there on that battlefield and waiting for Tony to crack his eyes open and make a joke about them having long faces or something. But then Steve had lifted his body off the ground and carried him away. And then they had the funeral. The funeral had made it all feel real in a way that somehow watching Tony die hadn’t. Peter doesn’t think there will be a funeral in the end. Not if they plan to keep Batman’s death secret. He wonders if they’ll be able to find the closure they need without it. 

“I know,” Tim sighs, letting his head drop back against the seat to stare up at the ceiling. “I know it’s crazy.” 

“It’s okay to be a little crazy sometimes,” Peter admits. He tilts his own head back and stares up at the ceiling as well. He realizes then why it feels so eerily silent, there are no bats in the cave. Peter feels the tears fall from his own eyes and he doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of crying over Bruce’s death when he hadn’t really had the time to get to know him like the rest of them did. But he isn’t sure he could lift his arms to wipe them away if he tried. Tim lets out a desperate sounding laugh that turns into a coughing fit and leaves him bent forward with his forehead pressed against the table. 

“Don’t tell Jason that,” He says. 

“No,” Peter agrees as he recalls the green glow of Jason’s eyes. “Probably a good idea.” He doesn’t know what's going to come next for them. He doesn’t know what he can do to make things better for them. It takes him a bit longer but he eventually manages to peel himself up out of his chair and he gets Tim to his feet as well. He has no hope of actually getting Tim into a real bed but he does get the younger teen to let him help him out of his Robin costume and into some comfortable clothes before he crashes as soon as his head hits the pillow on a bed in the medical room. Peter tucks him in then stumbles his way down to where the bikes are parked and climbs onto the back of his. He leans forward for a moment resting his head on the handlebars as he psychs himself up for the drive. He’s extremely grateful that the bike can practically drive itself and he gets the coordinates set for the Opera house and takes off. 

He barely remembers the ride out there. One minute he’s in the cave and the next he’s dragging himself into the Opera house through the window and stumbling into the auditorium. He’s extremely thankful that he does find Jason there. Sitting down in the orchestra pit and routinely cleaning and checking the weapons that have sat untouched for the past month. 

“Jay,” Peter says softly. Jason doesn’t speak, just keeps focused on the gun in his hands. “Jay, did you get your guns back from Arsenal?”

“Yes.” 

“That’s good,” Peter drops down to sit with his feet dangling into the pit. Neither of them speaks for a long while. Jason mostly seems to be ignoring his presence until Peter starts to nod off. 

“Go to bed,” Jason tells him.

“Too far,” Peter admits before letting himself fall backward to lie on the floor. “Here’s good.” 

“Peter,” Jason scolds. Peter doesn’t bother to answer him. The room is spinning around him so he squeezes his eyes shut and lets the world fade to darkness. “Peter? Get some sleep kid. You’ve earned it.”