Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Battle at the Endgame

Chitauri missiles were firing off, piercing the air, striking the ground with loud, earthshaking blasts.

The smell of burning flesh, blood, and gunpowder pervaded the air. There were hundreds of warriors yelling their battlecries. There were hundreds more taking their last breath.

T’Challa is carrying the gauntlet, but is hit by Thanos’ blade and the gauntlet falls from his grasp.

Ebony Maw makes an attempt to get the gauntlet, telekinetically shifting the debris, moving the gauntlet.

thwip

Peter webs the gauntlet into his arms.

Swarms of Chitauri warriors surround Peter.

“Activate instant kill!” Peter shouts.

The wide eyes of the Iron Spider suit glowed red and sharp spider legs extended out of the suit, spearing through the droves of Chitauri.

Peters senses are dialed to thousand and all he can think to do is run and get the gauntlet as far as possible

Thanos can’t win Peter, not again.

Peter feels the air begin to vibrate, and hears the sound of something charging, something big.

Zzzzzzzzt

Thanos’ ship launched strike upon strike. Peter narrowly dodged the blasts, they were so close to him that there was a ringing in his ears. The ringing turned to a deafening silence, blood trickled down the sides of his face. His ear drums must have ruptured. It's a shock they hadn’t sooner.

Danger! Watch out!

Peter became disoriented in his run and his body didn't catch up to his spidey sense as a piece of shrapnel slashed across his back

“God dammit” Peter groaned and tripped over fallen Chitauri.

Get up Parker. This is on you. Move.

Peter forced his straining muscles to move and continued his run.
He scanned the battlefield, there were too many enemies. They weren’t going to win, not like this. He spotted Tony and Cap getting knocked around by Thanos. Golden sparks were flying, Doctor Strange was trying to hold back the raging water coming towards the battlefield. He caught sight of Mr. Barton getting a spear through the shoulder.

It was overwhelming.

They were not going to win.

Peter came to a decision, he held the gauntlet, he could finish this in one second and everyone would be saved. He couldn’t run around any longer waiting for somebody else to step up to the plate. This was on him.

Peter slipped the gauntlet onto his hand and the red nanites shifted to fit him.

It was as though the world went silent. To Peter it was, he couldn’t hear anything after his eardrums had ruptured. He could feel his heart beating, the blood rushing through his body. He could see turned heads. That large, purple bastard, clenching his oversized jaw.

Watching. Worried.

He could see Tony’s blip moving towards him on the screen in his mask.

“Your intended action is not recommended Peter.” Karen typed across his screen.

Peter let his nanite mask recede before anyone else could try to change his mind.

Peter saw red and gold rocketing towards him. But Peter had made up his mind.

The stones hummed and began to glow, energy surged up Peter’s arm.

Peter screamed

Panicked thoughts repeated themselves in his head

Keep your thoughts clear Parker! You’ve got one shot.

I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die

Dust Thanos and his army

Save everyone

These were the thoughts that ran through him as he smashed his fingers together.

Peter was lucky to have inhuman strength, otherwise he might have not been able to push his fingers together.

“I’m sorry.” Peter said aloud.

Snap

And then there was pain, searing, blinding pain.

Peter tried to scream but he had no voice. It was as though every nerve in his body was being stabbed with a hot poker. It was reminiscent of his first death on Titan, but different in the fact that it didn’t feel as resolute.

And then, it was gone.

Chapter Text

Thanos grabbed Tony by the leg as he attempted to use his boosters to fly around him and whipped him into a slab of concrete that was formerly a part of the Avengers compound.

There was the screeching sound of metal on concrete as Tony scraped across the wall.

“Peter!” Tony could hear Pepper’s horrified shriek through his comms, his heart sank. He had seen Peter running with the gauntlet and was worried that Thanos’ creatures had killed Peter and gotten hold of the gauntlet.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, show me Peter’s direction.” Tony demanded.

“Peter is to your South, he appears to be wearing the gauntlet.” F.R.I.D.A.Y replies.

“Shit.” Tony sighs.

He flies closer and he can see Peter, the gauntlet is glowing and surging up his arm.

“Peter, please!” he shouted.

Tony was twenty feet away

“I’m sorry.” Peter said

Snap

A blast of energy sent Tony sprawling into the dirt. Dust and debris shot into the air in shockwaves obscuring all vision of the source of the blast. And then there was silence.

The alien invaders began to fall apart. Turned to ash. Thanos sat down, defeated, and he too turned to ash.

There were cheers of celebration across the land. But, from those who knew how that victory was achieved, there was not a word spoken.

“Peter? Pete?” Tony gasped. He tried to stand, the blast of energy completely zapped his suit. He manually disengaged the suit and stumbled in the direction he knew Peter had been at.

The dust began to dissipate. There was a crater where Peter was supposed to be.

“Oh God, please.” Tony begged, but he knew no human would have survived using the Infinity Stones, even the Hulk had nearly died from its use.

Tony dropped to his knees in the center of the crater, the gauntlet was there. And so was what was left of Peter. A right arm tightly wrapped in a splintered metal sleeve with a spider web pattern. The right hand clenched in a red and gold gauntlet with dull stones.

Tony hugged the arm. He couldn’t prevent the deep sob that rattled his chest.

“Peter?” Tony heard Pepper cry out behind him.

Tony could only nod his head, Pepper wrapped her arms around him.

More footsteps landed beside them. Gasps of shock and sadness sprouted from the Avengers that had entered the crater.

“Not the kid…” Cap sighed sadly.

“I’m going to be sick.” Rhodey turned away from the group.

Doctor Strange was quite honestly shocked. Out of the 14,000,605 outcomes Stephen had seen, he truly hadn’t seen this happen.

The other Avengers let out their own thoughts of grief, they didn’t want Peter’s sacrifice to be in vain so they spread out to assess the damage and help any injured survivors of the battle.

Tony and Pepper stayed in the crater and cradled Peter’s arm between them.

“It should have been me.” Tony said. Pepper only squeezed him tighter in response.

Chapter Text

A plane of reality devoid of anything but a flat surface of still water and millions of stars.

Peter wasn’t awake, but he wasn’t asleep either. It was as though his consciousness was just floating in this realm.

“Peter Parker.”

Peter heard an ethereal voice speak his name, but he couldn’t respond. It seemed so loud compared to the deafening silence he had experienced during the battle.

“You probably won’t remember this, but you performed a righteous action, little spider.” the voice said.

They sound like chimes in the wind, like the rain as it falls. Peter thought

The voice laughed, it was a beautiful sound. “Thank you for your compliments, little spider. We knew this was the right decision.”

Y-y-you can hear my thoughts?!

The voice didn’t reply to that thought, but what they said next sounded like it was said with a smile.
“Your sacrifice saved trillions from being unjustly lost, and for that you deserve a reward. We cannot do much. We cannot upset the balance of the Multiverse. But we can send you somewhere where there is no Spider-man, where there is no Peter Parker, where you can live.” the voice stated.

“We heard your pleas, and we granted them all, we dusted Thanos and his army, we saved everyone, but there was no outcome where you didn’t die from our power.” the voice said, it sounded sad.

“But we can give you new life elsewhere.”

Peter didn’t have any complaints

T-that uh sounds good to me. If Peter could nervously laugh in his mind, he would be doing that.

“We can send one thing with you to the next life, what would you choose?” the voice asked.

Karen, please. Peter said firmly, there was no doubt in his mind that that was the best choice.

“That can be done. Sleep, little spider. You may not remember this but we are grateful you were our final wielder. Live well and long.” That was the last thing the voice said.

Flashing colors swirled around, green, purple, blue, yellow, red, and orange.

It was a stream of color surging into his brain, and this time it didn’t hurt. He felt at peace.

Chapter Text

Peter awoke with the pain of sore muscles and a sharp headache.

Wary. Unsafe. Unfamiliar

Quiet. It was so quiet, yet his spider-sense seemed to think there was something amiss. It was too quiet.

Peter opened his eyes and saw that he seemed to be in an alleyway. Ugh, it reeked. The ground was wet to the touch underneath him, but it didn’t seem like it had rained. Peter drew his left hand up to rub his eye, but before he rubbed his eye he realized it was stained with blood. Fresh blood.

He looked down at the ground he was sitting on and realized the wetness he had been feeling was blood, from him.

The shock from waking up after that terrible battle in an unknown alleyway, was replaced with the recognition of a sharp stinging pain on his back. He remembered he had been slashed across the back with shrapnel from the battle.

He went to reach behind his back to check the wound.

“Why am I not feeling anything, I’m definitely touching my back with my hand?” Peter thought there was nerve damage of some kind.

“Wait a minute.”

He looked at where the right arm he was reaching with was supposed to be, there was nothing, zilch, nada. No arm.

“Fuck my life.” Peter sighed out loud.

“I definitely said that out loud, why didn’t I hear my voice?!?” Peter was scared.

He reached up and touched his left ear with his remaining hand, he pulled his hand back and there was blood on his finger.

That explains the complete and utter silence perfectly. His ears were still ruptured from the missiles. Peter stood up, unsteady on his feet.

Danger.
He was scared, alone, and in the world's creepiest alleyway. He needed to move, and find somewhere to get his wits about him. His spidey-sense was screaming that everywhere was dangerous.

Peter managed to avoid any interactions and stumbled across a building, an abandoned opera house. Boarded up windows and all. Peter used his arm to pry open one of the planks and crawled into the opening of the window to the opera house.

He squeezed through the gap. Peter fell as he pushed his way through the window. He reached out to land onto his hand. Instead he painfully landed on a theater chair.

“Ouch. Fuck.”

Right. No arm.

Peter grunted and got up. He limped around the theater till he found a room worthy of figuring his life out in.

The air smelt of mildew and dust. He walked up to the second floor. It seemed to be the office. There was a steel desk, a floral patterned couch with rips in the seams, stuffing pulled out in a few places. A broken clock hung on the wall. Wooden shelves and steel filing cabinets were turned over. There was a wooden wardrobe next to the door. A small vanity was pushed into the corner, like it was moved from the dressing room. Dark blue wallpaper was peeling off the walls. But it would work.

Peter sat on the floral couch, and peeled his shirt off of his back and sat it next to him on the couch.

Time to assess these injuries, Parker.

Peter did his best to feel around with one arm, and this is what he got.

At least five of his ribs had to be broken
His left eye had swollen shut after his move into the opera house
His pinkie finger was not bending as much as it was supposed to and was an unappealing shade of purple
Something left a small cut on his brow
His left leg was bruised pretty badly, he wouldn’t be shocked if his there was a fracture under those bruises somewhere
His ankle was swollen something awful
There was a large bleeding gash across his back, from his left shoulder to his right hip

His healing factor wasn’t pulling its weight, hopefully the weird teleportation incident was just temporarily messing with that.

Peter needed to close up some of these wounds so he pointed his spinnerette and webbed them close as best he could.

Peter noticed the vanity and took a step towards the mirror, he wanted to see if there were any injuries on his face that he didn’t notice previously. He had lichtenberg scars from the socket of his shoulder to across his chest. And…

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

My handsome face?!? My manly aura?! It’s all gone!

Okay Peter’s exaggerating, he still had his baby face at seventeen(+5), but he was making progress, okay.

The face that reflected in the mirror was not the totally grown up semi-adult Peter, it was little cutie pie twelve-year-old Peter. Curly, brown hair, and big, hazel, doe-eyes. A round little face with a button nose.

Oh come on. Of course, I’m injured, and in some unknown city, but do I have to be a little kid? I wanna be cool, not adorable. Whatever. It’s fine, I can deal with this.

Peter noticed something else in the mirror, a device attached to his right ear, it looked like a hearing aid. He pulled it off. It was sleek, black, and it had Stark written on it in white letters, the same font as the Stark on the side of Tony’s tower.

He pressed a button on the side of the device, it was sending vibrations through the air, Peter assumed it must be making sound. But, due to his current affliction of being unable to hear, there was nothing he could do with it. So, he put it back on his ear. He couldn’t hear and it looked like a hearing aid so it went with the theme.

Peter laid down on the couch. Ouch. Forgot about the giant wound held together by Peter-webs.

The adrenaline from the past 48 hours was beginning to wear off. Did it count as 48 hours if a lot of those hours were technically five years ago? Peter didn’t want to try and think about that.

Haah. Peter sighed.

He started to think about this “rejuvenation,” (if you could call it that, he still feels like shit, but he's not dead.) he had, and what did it mean. He’s clearly alive, but what about everyone else? He’s definitely not home, it’s different. He thinks about what he was thinking the moment he snapped his fingers.

“I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die

Dust Thanos and his army

Save everyone”

Oh god. W-what if. What if he messed it all up? Out of those three options the only one he can clearly determine is that he hasn’t died. What if his first thought is the only one that worked. And he can sense the environment of this world that he’s in is unfamiliar.

What if the only way for him to live was to send him to another universe, because Thanos will have picked up the gauntlet and erased every living thing from his own.

Peter deduced that that had to have been what happened. The guilt was like a stab in the heart. He failed. He failed Tony, and Pepper. He failed Aunt May, Ned, MJ, Miles, the Avengers, his universe. Uncle Ben probably wouldn’t even look at him if he was alive.

The tears started falling

“Hic-hic-haa” Peter couldn’t stop sobbing, his body shook with every cry. He laid and cried for hours, with each breath in he could feel his lungs burn.

He cried and cried until the sleep took over his mind.

Chapter Text

16 hours later

Peter didn’t dream that night. He didn’t think of anything at all.

Peter didn’t get up. He didn’t deserve to. His friends, his family, fought so hard just for him to selfishly screw it up.

He stayed lying on the couch. Until sleep came for him again and let him escape the thoughts of his failure.

---------------

32 hours later

Peter slept for many hours and spent another few hours thinking about what he should do.

He decided he needed to get up and find out more about where/when/ever he was. There was no use for him to waste away in this opera house. It wouldn’t be fair to those whose chance he took away for him to die and waste it. He looked around the room, he didn’t have any shoes, his shirt was shredded and coated with dried blood, he was lucky enough to at least have a pair of shorts on. He approached the wooden wardrobe next to the door and pulled the doors open.

Creaaaak

Yes! Finally something good has happened. Peter spotted a large grey hoodie, a large blue overcoat hanging in the wardrobe, and some too-big dress shoes
.
Peter had to step on his tippy toes to pull the coats from their hangers. He pulled the hoodie over his head and shuffled around to get his arm in the sleeve, much harder to do with one arm. He cloaked himself in the blue overcoat and fastened the middle button around his waist. The odd amount of arms meant at least one button had to be fastened to keep the too-big coat from slipping off to one side. The shoes didn’t fit, but it was something.

Fortunately or unfortunately Peter’s decrease in height meant that the clothes that would have normally fit him well, fell past his knees. Since he only had shorts he was honestly glad that the tops went so far down, they added an extra layer of protection from the cold city he was in.

He was going to move with purpose today. He still couldn’t hear. His healing factor must be on pause until he gets some calories in his system. At the very least his swollen eye was no longer completely swollen shut and he could see properly again.

Peter walked over to the vanity and peered into the mirror. He looked like death, a few days without food and suddenly he was skeletor. His youthful face was gaunt and pale. Dark under eyes were emphasized by his pale skin. His eye was still bruised and dark, and the small gash on his brow had scabbed over.

Sigh

He took his hand and slapped himself in the face.

“Get it together, Parker! Today we’re gonna get the lay of the land and find something to eat.”

Peter wandered down stairs, and through the theater.

Squeak squeak

Rats scattered as he walked down the main aisle of the theatre. He found the window he crawled out of and pushed more of the boards open to create a bigger gap to fit through.

He crawled out the window, and jumped down to the alley. Before leaving he pulled a little bit of webbing, cutting it with his teeth and stuck the boards back over the window.

Hopefully, nobody else goes in there.

Peter took off into the unsettlingly quiet world. If his senses didn’t think this place was so dangerous he might even enjoy the silence he hasn’t experienced since before the bite.

Huh. He realized for the first time in years there wasn’t a physical reminder of that moment. The scars from the bite were on the arm that was no longer with us.

Peter was lost in his thoughts; he didn't even notice the men walking behind him.

His spidey-senses seem to be delayed, due to the loss of one of his five senses.

DANGER! Watch out!

“Huh. W-woah.” Peter thought as a large hand pushed him into the closest alley. He was so shocked by the delay he didn’t resist the man dragging him by the hood to the end of the alley.

Chapter Text

There were two men. One was taller and he had a bit of muscle on him, not enough for Peter to see him as a threat, but he’d be trouble for any normal twelve-year-old. Peter exhaled as the back of his head bumped against the wall. The other guy was shorter than asshole #1 but he was still much taller than Peter. He was lanky, and clearly someone abusing substances.

“Hey baby, got any money for me?” asshole #1 asked as he grabbed a fist of Peter's hair.

What? Great time to not be able to hear. Peter can’t read lips but he’s met enough muggers to get the lowlife’s gist. He shakes his head no.

“Yeah, I figured. You look like you don’t street urchin.” asshole #1 says.

“Maybe he’s got something else for us Spike? Asshole #2 asks, licking his lips.
What are they doing? Are they done? I clearly don’t have any money. Why’s freako licking his lips? Did I land in cannibal city?

“Maybe he does.” asshole #1 smirks, and unbuttons Peter’s jacket, pulls up his hoodie and puts his hand on Peter’s chest.

No fucking way. What the fuck is this. I can’t do this. Oh my god. Peter knows he’s strong enough to get out of this, he’s fought in space. What’s a couple a creeps in an alleyway. He tries to push them away. With the wrong arm. Asshole #2 puts a hand on his throat, and Peter’s mind is swept away to 2012.

----------------------------»»————-　2012　———-««—-----------------------------

His apartment building was blown up by the Chitauri Invasion in the Battle of New York. He and Aunt May are on the streets.

Aunt May did her best to make some money but it wasn’t enough at the time, and there were thousands of other displaced Newyorkers in need of shelter.

May went to get Peter from the shopping center that was being used as a school since his elementary school got blown to smithereens. She was with a man, he was tall, blonde, and seemed friendly enough.

“Peter, this is Skip, I met him at the hospital and he said he’d let us rent his spare room and bathroom till we found a place for ourselves. Skip, this is my nephew, Peter.” May said, introducing them to each other.

It was nice at first, not sleeping on a cot next to everyone and their mother was a big upgrade. Skip was polite, and let them use the kitchen and common areas as they wished. Getting to eat Aunt May’s cooking again was nice too.

A few days turned into weeks, and then it became two months. Peter was comfortable with Skip, and May didn’t mind if Skip watched Peter while she did her 13 hour shifts at the hospital.

In the second month there were subtle touches. A hug that was a little too long. A hand on the back that went a little lower than normal. A hand on the knee. It turned into Skip accidentally walking out of the shower with nothing but a towel.

Creaaaaak. The bathroom door opened, and Skip walked out nearly naked and barely holding the towel on.

“Oh my goodness, Pete. I thought you were still at your decathlon meet! I’m so embarrassed, please don’t tell anyone. I trust you, Pete.” Skip would say and walk off into his bedroom.

Peter didn’t tell, he didn’t think it was that big of a deal, it did happen often though and Peter thought it was strange Skip didn’t know his schedule yet. It didn’t really change.

In the third month Skip asked Peter to bring him a towel, he just forgot to grab one, Peter guessed.

Instead of asking Peter to leave the towel at the door, Skip swung the door wide open. Completely nude.

Peter was a bit shocked of course but he had already seen Skip nearly nude. And they're both boys, right? It would be a lie to say it didn’t make him uncomfortable though.

When it happened Skip was in his room.

“Peter! Come here, I wanna show you something!” Skip yelled from his room.

“Ok, coming!” Peter responded. He’d been in Skip's room before, Skip had played a board game with Peter on his bed.

Peter thought it would be something like that, he was wrong. Very wrong.

Skip grabbed Peter’s hand and led him to the bed.

“Skip, what’re you gonna show me?” Peter asked.

“Lay down, it’s great you’ll love it, Pete.” Skip smiled at Peter, the same friendly smile Skip had when they played a game together on this same bed.

Peter laid down.

Skip put his hand on Peter’s throat.

“S-skip, you’re scaring me.” Peter said.

“Peter, we’re going to have fun. But this fun has to be our secret, Pete. You tell anybody, and they’re gonna take you away from Aunt May. Do you understand, Pete?” Skip said his face inches away from Peter’s.

Peter nodded his head, he was too scared to speak.

It was the first time, but it was not the last time.

“My eyes, they hurt. Am I crying?”

---------------------------»»————-　Present　——-««—-----------------------------
Italics with quotation marks is signing.

Peter’s heart is beating out of his chest. Tears are falling from his eyes. His breathing is heavy. He’s panicking.

There’s a hand creeping up his leg.

Hi! Help!

Peter looks up, and refocuses his vision,

“AHHHG!” Peter can see asshole #2 is screaming. A man with a red helmet is slamming asshole #2’s head into the wall until he stops moving.

Peter is released from asshole #1’s grip, and he sees it. Asshole #1 pulls out a gun and seems to be yelling something Peter can’t hear.

Before asshole #1 can shoot a round off, Mr. Red Helmet puts one through his skull.

Peter stood stock still. His heart is still racing but he feels oddly better despite the graphic display of violence that happened in front of his face.

Mr. Red Helmet approached Peter slowly and put his gun back in its holster.

Peter wasn’t thinking. He just leaned back against the wall.

Safe! Friend!

Peter’s spidey-sense seemed to think this guy was alright. So Peter let him approach.

They were at a standstill, Peter was staring at Mr. Red Helmet. Mr. Red Helmet appeared to be staring at Peter a few feet away waving his hands in a soothing way.

Oh. I’m stupid. He’s probably talking, I just can’t see his mouth moving behind that helmet. Stupid, Parker.

Peter blushed and pointed at his ear and shook his head ‘no’ he hoped this guy got the message.

It seems like he did, great!

Mr. Red Helmet signed

Peter nodded his head ‘yes,’ thank you, Aunt May.

“Are you okay?” Mr. Red Helmet signed.

“What do you think?” Peter responded.

“Yeah, fair enough. You hungry, kid?” He asked.

Food secured, at least one good thing came from my excursion, Peter thought.

Peter nodded.

“I thought so, come on.” Mr. Red Helmet signed.

Mr. Red Helmet put his hand on Peter’s shoulder and led out of the alley.

Chapter Text

Sitting on a roof in Crime Alley

“Hey Signal, I’m turning in early, I’m gonna patrol tonight instead.” Jason spoke into his comm.

“See ya, zombies can’t stand the daylight. Or is that just in Minecraft?” Signal responds.

That statement doesn’t deserve a response.

Jason pushed his hair back and put his helmet on over his domino mask.

Haaah. Jason sighs.

He stands up and walks to the fire escape of the abandoned building he’s standing on and climbs down.

Jason left his bike back at the garage, he’s hoofing it today.

He walks with confidence, these are his streets. No one is gonna try to mug Red Fucking Hood.

“Look at the kid, he’s not even moving, he’s making this so easy.” Jason hears a man laugh.

“Get those shorts off ‘im Spike.” Jason frowns at this, and turns towards the direction he hears the voices.

He spots two figures, one of the men has his hands all over, a fucking kid? And the other is urging him on. Green floods his vision.

He grabs the guy closest to him, the scrawny one and slams his head into the brick wall.

“AHHHHhG!” toothpick yells. He stops screaming after the fourth hit.

Jason lets him drop.

He sees the one who was holding the kid pull a gun. “B-bet you aren’t bullet proof Red Hood, so j-just back off!” he screeches.

Pathetic

It only takes a second for Jason to pop a round through his thick skull.

Jason’s still feeling green but he knows he needs to calm down before he approaches the kid.

He takes a deep breath and looks at the kid, he looks like shit. He’s got a pretty big black eye and looks scared outta his mind. Jason walks up to the kid slowly and puts his hands up, he knows he probably scared the kid with what he did, he doesn’t want to scare him more.

“Hey, kid. You okay?” Jason asks, he tries to put his friendly voice on, but he can’t completely keep the edge out of it.

Jason waits. The kid’s leaning against the wall, there’s a bit of blood on the wall behind the kid’s head. Ouch. He probably hit it hard.

“You’re safe now. I’m not gonna hurt you.” he says as he takes a step closer.

Now it’s a staring contest. Jason’s not really sure what to do. Usually people thank him and run or scream and run and neither of those have happened yet.

The kid makes a shocked expression that turns into a smile.

Aww, who could hurt a kid like this, he’s adorable. Jason thinks, and he almost lets the green enter his vision again.

The boy points to his ear and shakes his head. It is then Jason notices what looks like a hearing aid behind the boy's ear.

Oh, he can’t hear me. TGFBB, thank god for Black Bat, I actually learned to sign. Jason thinks.

“Can you sign?” Jason asks, and the kid nods his head.

“Are you okay?” Jason signs.

“What do you think?” the boy responded.

“Ha,” Jason laughs, he’s glad the kid can still make a joke after what happened.

“Yeah, fair enough. You hungry, kid?” Jason asks, and the kid nods again.

“I thought so, come on.” Jason signs.

He puts his and on the boy’s shoulder and guides him past the bodies on the ground and out of the alley.

Chapter Text

Peter lets the giant man(he’s exaggerating again, everyone’s giant when you don't even reach five feet.)guide him to, Batburger?

What the hell is a Batburger? Do they sell burgers made out of bats? Peter decides to ask Mr. Red Helmet before they eat there. Who knows what strange things they might eat in an alternate universe.

“Are the burgers made with bats?” Peter asks.

Peter can see the man shake with laughter. His hands move slowly as he signs while laughing.

“Fortunately no, ya never been to Batburger before?” he signs.

Peter shakes his head no.

“Well, let’s get in there, I’m sure you’ll like it,” Mr. Red Helmet says.

Mr. Red Helmet guides Peter over to a booth, and signs for him to have a seat. Peter does.

Peter looks around the restaurant. It seems to be superhero themed? The poor kid running the register is stuffed in a weird gray and black cat outfit, with a bat in the center of his chest? Intriguing.

He watches Mr. Red Helmet walk up to the counter and order their food. Everyone in the restaurant seems to recognize him. He must be some kinda famous vigilante.

A few minutes pass and Mr. Red Helmet comes back to their booth with a tray stacked high with food and drinks. He places it in front of Peter.

“Eat up.” he signs.

“Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. And thanks for helping me earlier.” Peter signs back.

“No problem, kid.” Jason slides into the seat across from Peter and pulls off his “hood” he hears Peter gasp.

Did he really just take his mask off- oh another mask! Who the hell wears two masks, thats gotta fuck with his visibility. Peter wonders. His shock must be visible on his face because he can see Mr. Red Helmet’s smile.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got another, tinier mask under this one too.” Jason signs

Pfft. Peter laughs, for the first time in a few days.

This kids great, Jason thinks.

Jason waits for the kid to finish scarfing down four Batburger Deluxes, before he realizes he doesn’t know the kid's name. The kid hasn’t once used his right arm, when he shifted in his seat the fabric of his sleeve bent impossibly. He didn’t realize it till he sat and watched the boy, the kid is missing an arm!

What the hell happened to him? Jason hopes he was just born that way, and the kid didn’t have the experience of losing an arm at some point in his life. But the way the kid is moving like he’s forgotten he has one arm leads Jason to believe he lost it recently.

“Your arm, it’s gone.” Jason blurts out. God, Jason. Obviously he doesn’t have an arm, you’re so stupid. What an idiotic thing to say.

“Happy little accident,” the kid says clearly, not wanting to talk about it any further.

Jason wasn’t going to press him about it.

The kid's bone-thin as well, and is acting like he’s never seen food before. He’s got more bruises and abrasions than what he could’ve sustained from earlier today. Jason’s worried to say the least. Who’s letting their one-armed kid run around and get attacked in Crime Alley? Did his family hurt him? Is that why he’s loose in Crime Alley?

Jason’s feeling a little green at the thought.

Jason realizes he’s probably looking a little scary right now when he sees the kid look up at him apprehensively. Jason unclenches his jaw.

“Sorry, I’m not angry, I was just thinking about something.” he signs to the boy.

The kid looks relieved and finishes his last Batburger. Peter grabs the small box that is on the tray and tilts his head questioningly.

“Open it, it’s tradition.” Jason signs.

Peter opens the box and pulls out a little figurine that looks suspiciously like the man sitting across from him, he holds it up to compare it to the man.

“Nice, you got the best one” Jason smiles, and Peter smiles back.

“Now that your hands are free, what’s your name?” Jason asks.

“P-E-T-E-R” the boy, Peter, spells.

“Nice to meet you Peter,” Jason replies.

“What is your name mister?” Peter asks.

Huh. Does Peter not recognize him? Red Hood is pretty infamous. There’s not a person in Crime Alley who’s never recognized him, Jason thinks.

Peter notes the man's look of surprise. Okay, I guess he’s someone I should have recognized considering he’s got a toy made after him. Oops. Peter thinks.

“You can call me Red Hood, Peter,” Jason answers.

“Nice to meet you too Mr. Red Hood. Your’e not wearing much of a ‘hood’ though?” Peter says.

Jason scoffs. “Whatever.”

They sat there for a while. Peter enjoyed the company, they ‘talk’ the whole time but it was nice.

It wasn’t dark yet but it was late in the afternoon and Peter didn’t feel like risking going out at night, so he told Red Hood he needed to get home.

“Let me walk you home.” Red Hood signed.

“No, no, I’ll go back by myself,” Peter signed quickly. He doesn’t think Red Hood is a bad guy, but he doesn’t think anyone should be stuck dealing with himself all day, he’s not a baby. Red Hood has better things to do.

“I insist.” Jason urges. He takes note that Peter's eyes are looking at the exit and back at him.

There is a loud crash as some idiot slips in the kitchen and lands hands first onto the grill.

“AAAAAAHHHHH! Oh my god my hands!” a high pitched shriek is emitted from the poor underpaid doofus in a Robin costume, Jason turns his head to look at the commotion.

Now's your chance, Parker. Peter thinks.
Jason turns his head back towards Peter after he sees that the kitchen has calmed down and the red hot Robin is on his way out the back.

Peter’s gone.

“Damn it, that kid’s sneaky!” Jason yells, and quickly leaves out the door looking both ways down the street for whichever direction Peter went. Jason’s impressed, it takes a bit of skill to sneak away from him.

He takes off in the direction he and Peter came from hoping that the kid went back the way they came.

There’s something about Peter. Something familiar, Jason just can’t put his finger on it.

Peter huffed a few short breaths and stopped running after he got a few blocks away from the Batburger.

Peter assumed that Red Hood would go back the way they had come from so he went the opposite way but now he’d have to loop around and it would take a bit longer to get back to the Opera House.

It took about an hour, but Peter finally managed to find his way back to the Opera House and avoid another run in with any muggers or Red Hood. Peter feels a little bad about running off, but he’s not even a person in this universe yet, he can't burden anyone else with his problems right now.

Peter pulls off the boards and climbs into the Opera House through the window. He seals the window again and walks up to ‘his’ office.

Today turned out alright in the end, as alright as it could’ve been. He had eaten plenty of food so maybe if he tries to sleep his healing factor might kick in tonight.

Peter lays down on the torn up, floral couch and hugs his blue jacket tighter around his body, as he drifts off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Lights swirling lights, all the colors of the rainbow flit over his eyes. There’s a low hum buzzing in the back of his head.

Whoooosh -

He’s standing in a dark plane, only illuminated by the stars in the sky.

He looks down to his feet, the ground beneath him is a mirror made of water. It reflects the stars in the “sky,” and yet, it doesn’t reflect Bruce.

Or does it?

It shows a boy, not any older than twelve. He looks like Bruce did as a child, but with lighter features, physically thin, with curled brown hair, and soft, hazel eyes, and a frown too deep on his round face. There is a sadness in his eyes that Bruce finds reminiscent of his own the day he lost his parents.

The boy is crying.

Bruce wishes nothing more than to see a smile on his face. He kneels down to reach the sad figure in the lake. His fingers touch the surface of the water.

Ripples spread across the surface, the prism of lights flits across his eyes.

Bruce awakes suddenly, sitting up as though he had risen from a nightmare.

What an odd dream? There was something so familiar about the boy, and there was an aching in Bruce’s heart.

Bruce raised his hands to rub the tiredness from his eyes. Wet. His face was wet with tears. Odd. How odd. Bruce hadn’t cried in his sleep in years.

Bruce pulled his sleeve over the side of his hand and dried the tears from his face.

He moved his legs off the side of his bed, and slid on his house shoes. Bruce walked towards the door, he remembered he needed to remind Alfred that he had a sudden meeting scheduled last night before bed for this morning, and he needed Alfred to take the boys to school. He had been trying to be more interested in driving the boys to school as of late, but duty calls.

As always, Alfred was just around the corner when you needed him.

“Master Bruce, are you quite alright?” Alfred asks, he looks mildly concerned.

Oh, right. I guess I probably still look like I was crying. How embarrassing.

“Yes, I’m quite fine Alfred. I was just coming to tell you that I am unable to take the boys to school this morning.” Bruce replied hurriedly, he didn’t want to give Alfred time to bring up his current appearance.

“If you say so, Master Bruce. I’ll be sure to take the boys today.” Alfred answered suspiciously. Alfred knew better than to ask, if Bruce had said he was fine it was none of his business to pry.

Bruce thanked Alfred as he turned back towards his bedroom to get ready for the day.

Bruce shook his head and tried to clear the feelings left by the dream from his mind. But, the emotions lingered, sadness, familiarity, and concern.

Chapter Text

New York, New York (Earth-616) Three Weeks after the Battle at the Endgame.

The streets of New York were covered in red-and-blue banners. Thousands of people flooded the streets, clothed in red and blue, many wearing masks designed to look like Spider-Man’s own.

There was a stage planted in front of the City Hall, many officers of the NYPD stood in front of the stage.

On the stage was a podium with a microphone, and behind that was a large LED screen.

To the side of the stage there was a crowd of anxious reporters at the ready.

A young boy runs through the crowd pulling his backpack straps closer together, he pushes his way to the front of the stage and pulls a home-made Spider-Man mask over his tear-stained face.

A clock tolls in the distance, church bells ring across New York.

The crowd silences as the Avengers begin to walk up the stairs onto the platform.

Tony Stark approached the podium, and tapped the microphone gently. Static played through the air.

Tony leaned into the mic.

“You all should be aware of what occurred three weeks ago. We fought our biggest threat and we won. Not because we were strong, but because he was.” Tony gestures to the screen behind him and a photo of Peter Parker appears on the screen.

The crowd seems confused.

“That is seventeen-year-old Peter Parker, and our Spider-Man. You didn’t know him, but I did. He was the best damned intern I’ve ever had. He loved his friends and family, he made us watch Star Wars every movie night.” Tony's voice cracks. “He volunteered his free time at F.E.A.S.T. the legacy of his late Aunt, May Parker. He spent school nights swinging around Queens, the place he loved most in his heart.” Tony pauses.

“Three weeks ago, he made the greatest sacrifice, one he shouldn’t have had to make. If he hadn’t made that choice, we would not be here today, there is no doubt about that. We owe Peter Parker our lives. The universe owes Peter Parker.”

“We cannot bring him back, but we can do our best in his honor. Help your neighbors, your family, your friends, your community. Share as much love as Peter did for the world.” Tony stepped back from the podium and turned toward the screen, he looked as though he was trying to burn the image of Peter into his eyes.

Others stepped up and gave their thoughts about Spider-Man and Peter himself.

The sun began to set and people held out lit candles, held onto their neighbors and swayed together.

Eventually, the crowd began to thin, over a thousand flowers laid beneath two frames, one holding a photo of Peter, and the other Spider-Man.

The Daily Bugle - One hour after the vigil for Spider-Man

In an office at the top of the tower the Daily Bugle was housed in, a man sat at a large wooden desk.

J. Jonah Jameson sat alone, in the dark, only illuminated by a small television in the corner playing a recorded broadcast of the vigil.

Sigh

He took a swig of whiskey from his glass.

In an apartment in Queens, NY

Ned and MJ sat on his bed with two plates of tacos from the best taco truck in Queens.

He grabbed his remote and turned to Star Wars: the Last Jedi.

“This is for you, buddy.” Ned said aloud as he raised a taco and put it in the air in a cheering motion.

“Cheers, Peter.” MJ said, raising her food to meet Ned’s.

They learnt of Peter’s death two days after it happened. Tony wasn’t so cruel as to not tell them before the vigil. But, it didn’t make the night any easier.

The three musketeers were down to two.

Avengers Tower - One hour after the vigil

Tony opened his liquor cabinet. It was still pretty full. He needed to change that.

Pepper had tried to talk to him after the vigil, but he brushed her off. It was unfair of him to do so, he knew Pepper had loved Peter as much as he did.

He just didn’t have it in him to care anymore. Peter was gone. He was never going to walk through the lab and bug Tony till he stopped working. He was never going to see Spider-Man clinging to the side of the tower, knocking on the window even though he lived there full time and could use the door. He was never going to hear Peter nag about how much time Tony spent in the lab and needed to take better care of himself.

Tony would sit through all the complaining in the world if it meant he could have his boy back.

He should have been the one. Peter had so much more life to give, rather than some crotchety billionaire. Pepper and Peter would have been sad, but they would take care of each other.

Peter had been “gone” before, but when Peter was dusted on Titan, there was always still a chance for him to come back, Tony felt that deep in his heart.

But Tony screwed it up, he had finally gotten his boy back and sent him to his death within an hour.

Peter was gone for good now. He can’t even time travel fix-it this time.

He pokes around his liquor cabinet, dragging a finger along each bottle. Stop. Cognac 1811 Grande Armee. A very expensive wedding gift from another affluent friend. That should do. He had been waiting for a reason to open it, now seems like a perfect time.

He grabbed only the bottle, he wasn’t intending to portion his servings in a glass.

He plopped down on his couch. The couch he, Pepper and Peter had movie nights on.

Hah. He took a swig from the bottle. He coughed briefly. This drink was not exactly worthy of the twenty thousand dollar price tag.

Tony didn’t really care about the taste, he wasn’t in this for enjoyment. He just didn’t want to think about Peter any longer. He didn’t want to feel the guilt.

Tony had managed to hold himself together the past three weeks after he was gone. Tony knew he needed to keep it together long enough to get the recovery process moving for the rest of the world. He needed to see Peter’s vigil through with as much grace as he could muster.

He couldn’t do it anymore.

He took another swig. And another. And more. He’d be worrying about alcohol poisoning if he could think clearly.

Doctor Stephen Strange. He said there was only one shot, and he told me if I knew, it wouldn’t happen.

He knew. He knew his boy was going to die. Why didn’t he tell him? Sure, that outcome wouldn’t have happened, but Tony would put his own life down instead. Equal trade, it shouldn’t have changed a thing.

Tony looked at his phone lying on the side table. He picked it up and opened the contacts.

Scroll, scroll, scroll, stop.

He clicked on ‘Strange - Wizard.”

It rang three times before someone picked up.

“Tony, what do you need? It’s nearly midnight?” Strange answered.

“You. Y-you knew.” Tony slurred.

“Tony, I have no idea what you mean. You’re going to need to be more specific.” Strange huffed.

“Yooou said we had one shot. Pe-he was gonna die and you knew it!” Tony yelled through the phone.

“Tony, I did not know. I honestly did not see that outcome. The only outcome I saw was you dying Tony. Truly, Tony, I was completely and utterly surprised.” Strange pleaded.

“B-bullshit. If-if you had told me he was going to do it, you’d have gotten that outcome. But, you didn’t. It’s your fault. You should have told me. Pete would have lived. He’d have been safe. All that’s left of him is a charred arm in a metal cast.” Tony hung up the call before a sob could leave his throat.

He took another swig from the bottle still tightly clutched in his hand.

“I’m sorry, Peter.”

For once in his life since accepting the Time Stone Stephen Strange had no idea what had happened.

It’s your fault. You should have told me. Pete would have lived. All that’s left is a charred arm in a metal cast.

Tony’s words repeated in his mind.

Stephen let out a groan, and put his head into his hands, pressing the palms of his hands into his eyes.

Maybe Tony was right. Maybe if he’d told Tony, the kid wouldn’t be gone. Wouldn’t have met a miserable end. Stephen was foolish. Maybe talking about the future wasn’t like telling someone your birthday wish.

Wishes can’t come true if you share them out loud.

Fuck.

Stephen laid back onto his bed. He wanted to just sleep the thoughts away, but the guilt was eating away at him.

Avengers Tower - Three hours after the vigil

The team hadn’t left as soon as Tony did, but after their part they didn't stay long.

They had gone back to the tower and sat down in the common area.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound of Clint throwing a ball against the wall was loud in the room.

No one was talking, they didn’t need to.

There was a general feeling of failure and guilt that was shared by the group.

They all felt they could’ve done more. Maybe if they had fought harder Peter wouldn’t have felt the need to make that choice. It was an irrational thought. They all had fought their hardest and it wasn’t enough. The snap was something that needed to be done. They each wished they had been the one instead.

Tony may have been expressing his guilt in the loudest, most self-destructive way, but that didn’t mean he was the only one that cared about Peter.

One year after the “Civil War” as Tony had sarcastically called it, the team kissed and made up. They knew they needed each more than they could admit, so they all moved into the tower.

Peter moved in a few months later after one Green Goblin flattened his Aunt May with a parking garage.

Peter had a rough couple months, but the Avengers and Pepper got him through the grief, and helped Peter focus on the more positive things in life. When Peter wasn’t terribly depressed he was a ray of sunshine that was sorely needed in the tower.

Peter wasn’t just another superpowered individual, he was family. And everyone missed him.

The room remained silent, save for a few sighs. The Avengers stayed like that for a while. After an hour they slowly filtered out, one by one, returning to their quarters.

It was just Nat and Clint left in the room.

“I wish it would have been me.” rushed out of Clint’s mouth.

“I was going to say the same about myself.” Nat huffed out with a laugh that held no humor as she put a hand on Clint’s shoulder.

The silence returned, but now that the feelings had finally been expressed, the quiet tension was gone.

Chapter Text

Peter didn’t need a window to know that it was morning. He sat up slowly, gently rolling his legs off the couch.

He had a feeling that his healing factor had kicked in overnight thanks to the full meal he’d had the evening before.

He shrugged his shoulders and raised his one arm into the air, stretching. Ouch. Alright, so the giant open gash did not heal overnight. Peter wasn’t expecting it to, but a man can dream.

It wasn’t profusely bleeding so that was fine by him. He gingerly pressed on his ribs, those, thankfully, had healed pretty well. He felt less like he was hit by a train and more like he was thrown down the stairs. It’s the little things.

His pinkie finger seemed not broken, but stupid Parker forgot to straighten it out before letting it heal, so he was going to have to break it again to let it heal right.

He looked down at his left leg, the bruising had turned from goober grape purple to a pale yellow, much better. He really must have broken his ankle because it was still swollen, but it didn’t hurt terribly to walk on anymore.

Peter stood up, and brushed his hands over his clothes, swiping off the dust.

He walked over to the vanity and checked over his face. His eye was completely back to normal and the small cut over his brow was only noticeable by the slightly pink tint of the skin.

And the best thing of all, he could hear again!

“Hello, hello, hello.” Peter said to no one in particular.

Day five of the worst week of Peter’s life was going pretty well, all in all.

He’s slightly less hungry, has a full range of motion, his hearing, and just a smidge of hope.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared to go out. The alley incident had him quite a bit freaked out. He didn’t want to have to be strong anymore, it didn’t seem to lead to anything beneficial for him. He didn’t feel like Spider-Man anymore, he felt like Peter Parker. And Peter Parker was scared, alone, and with nothing familiar.

Wait a minute.

He had forgotten about the hearing aid. It said Stark on it, that couldn’t be a coincidence. He put his hand to the device and felt a small button, he pressed it.

Beep. beep. Beep.

“Hello, Peter.” a familiar female voice spoke into his ear.

“Karen! Oh my god, I’m so happy to hear your voice!” Peter wanted to cry, he wasn’t completely alone anymore.

“Peter, I am no longer connected to the Stark Industries satellite. Did something happen, Peter?” Karen sounded as confused as an AI could be.

That confirmed it for Peter, he wasn’t anywhere there was a Stark Industries so he couldn’t be on his Earth, but he was definitely on an Earth.

“Yeah, something happened Karen. It’s just you and me now.” Peter said sadly.

“Do not worry Peter, I will help you.” Karen comforted Peter.

“We must find a location for you to connect me to the internet Peter.” Karen instructed.

“Perhaps a library.”

Peter agreed with that.

He exited the Opera House and entered the alley.

He walked for about thirty minutes, he tried to ask for directions from some of the not-so-friendly looking people and in response got hit with a purse, told to “beat it, kid,” and quite a few dirty looks and muttered comments.

Whatever, he’ll figure it out himself.

Plop. Plop. Plop.

Something wet hit the back of Peter’s neck, a chill ran down his spine. It was like the temperature dropped twenty degrees in a matter of seconds.

Peter looked up to the sky, grey rain clouds were swiftly moving in.

Damn it.

Peter had gotten many spider-y traits, the one that would be affecting him at this time was his lack of an ability to thermoregulate properly. Sure, he had a coat and hoodie on, but his legs were fair game.

Hah. The rain was coming down harder and Peter didn’t want to risk getting too wet and cold in the rain. He stepped into a pet store, Crawley’s Critters, he noted. The sky was moving fast so Peter just needed to wait out the rain, he could see if pet stores were any different than at home, he mused.

He walked throughout the store for a few minutes, receiving a mean glare from the man behind the register. Does the guy not want customers?

The bell attached to the door chimed. A man wearing a ski mask stalked into the store.

“Open the goddamn register!” the robber yelled as he pulled out a gun.

The robber shot the firearm wildly; he didn't seem to be aiming anywhere in particular. A few of the enclosures were shattered open.

Peter hated guns, after Uncle Ben died he had a lot of trouble handling gun violence. Spider-Man could deal with them, but Peter couldn’t.

Peter froze as the bullets went through the air.

“Peter, get down onto the floor.” Karen said calmly.

Peter snapped out of his haze and ducked behind the shelf. Thankfully the shop owner obliged to the thief’s demands, the thief took the money and hightailed it out of the shop.

Hi! Friend!

Peter looked down near where his hand laid on the floor. There was a spider, a Mexican Red Knee tarantula to be exact. The spider lifted up his front leg and made a waving gesture.

Peter had never thought about talking to spiders until he met Mr. Lang. He’d been avoiding them since the bite, but he realized that he had no reason to be afraid of them once he started spending more time around them.

Peter laughed and waved a finger at the spider. “Do you want to come with me buddy?”

In response the tarantula crawled up Peter’s arm. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Peter quickly got up and walked out of the store before the man noticed the spider on his arm.

The rain had stopped, thank goodness. Peter held up his forearm and looked at the spider.

“Hmmm. I should name you something. How about Miles Jr? That sounds good.” Peter decided to name the spider after the boy, Miles, he babysat on the weekends. Eleven-year-old Miles Morales had accidentally spotted Peter taking his mask off on the neighboring apartment building and subsequently blackmailed Peter into being his babysitter on Saturdays. It was annoying at first, but Miles was a bright kid, Peter had taken to calling him Spider-Boy. Plus his mom treated Peter to some pretty good leftovers.

Peter was going to miss Miles’ nonsensical questioning on Peter’s powers. Did Peter really get bit by a spider, or were his parents secretly spider people in an underground spider people civilization plotting to take over the world?

Peter let Miles Jr. crawl into the pocket of his hoodie, and kept on walking.

He walked around for another ten minutes, trying to avoid any contact with the miscreants of this city.

Danger

“Hey, kid!” a man tried to grab Peter’s arm.

Peter took off running, he was not dealing with anymore muggers in dark alleys, thank you very much. He could hear the man running after him.

Why can’t anybody take a no for an answer? Sorry, Miles Jr. I’m not trying to make you dizzy. Peter mentally apologized to the smaller spider.

Peter picked up his pace, he could easily use his strength to run faster than the man, but his ankle was still uncomfortable to stand on, let alone run on. Peter was pretty sure he lost him, but for good measure he sprinted around another corner and slammed right into a brick wall? That’s not a brick wall, that’s a person. He could’ve been a brick wall, he was gigantic, he was covered in scars, he had a streak of white hair, and particularly murderous green eyes.

“Oh my gosh. I-I’m so sorry, I’m really really sorry.” Peter apologized and bowed his head.

Chapter Text

Jason was walking around Crime Alley in his off time, checking on things he couldn’t be seen doing dressed as Red Hood.

He was about to turn the corner and…

Oof.

There was a small impact at his legs, Jason looked down and he froze.

No way. What luck, it was the kid he was looking for yesterday.

“Oh my gosh. I-I’m so sorry, I’m really really sorry.” Peter, the boy, Jason corrected himself, he didn’t know Peter when he looked like this.

Hmm, he can hear and talk now. Maybe he just needed to charge his hearing aid? Or maybe he just didn’t want to talk to you? The kid looked scared, oh, right, Jason has been staring, he should probably talk to the kid.

“Hey, hey, It’s alright kid, I’m not mad. Are you alright?” Jason asked, he tried to put his friendly voice on.

“Yeah, um I’m okay, are you alright?” Peter asked nervously. This was the first person Peter had talked to today that hadn’t outright insulted him. Was this guy an angel?

“Pfft I’m fine kid, you’re the one who ran head first into my kneecaps. You sure you’re all good?” Jason pressed, the kid looked better than yesterday, but he was still wearing the same ill-fitted outfit. He hoped the kid wasn’t having to take care of himself.

“I’m fine, um can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, go for it.” Jason responded.

“Um, I was looking for the library, do you know where it is? I tried to ask a few people, but they just said bad words to me.” Peter asked.

“You’re in the wrong place if you’re looking for the library, you’re in Crime Alley, kid. My friend works there, I can walk you there if you’d like.

Crime alley seriously, what kind of a name is that? Peter thinks.

“Can you just tell me how to get there? I don’t think I should just be following strangers around.” Peter sassed.

“Smart kid, but you’d be stupid to think I’d let some kid run around Crime Alley alone. And if you don’t wanna follow a stranger, then my name is Jason, nice to meet you.” Jason says.

“He’s right, Peter, this area is not very safe, and I cannot fully help you until we get to the library. Perhaps it would be best to follow him for now, you are very capable of running away if necessary.” Karen argues.

“Ok, I’ll follow you for now, don’t try anything funny. You can call me Peter.” Peter says slowly.

“Well then, Peter let's get going then.” Success. Jason’s glad Peter agreed to follow him, he was worried about the kid, maybe if they talked a little more Peter would trust him as Jason. It’d be easier to help Peter in his civilian persona.

Jason takes the lead, and they head towards the subway station down the street.

“How far is the library that we need to go to the subway?” Peter asks.

“It’s ten minutes by train, or a thirty-five minute walk.” Jason replies.

“Wow, I’m glad I didn’t keep walking around trying to find it.”

“I’m glad you didn’t either. It’s dangerous.”

The pair walk down the stairs and towards the turnstiles.
Peter stops.

Is he alright? Jason’s worried, he turns to look at Peter.

“I-I don’t have any money.” Peter looks upset.

Aww, he’s worried about having to pay, has he never been on a Gotham subway before?

Jason walks over to Peter and picks him up by the waist.

“W-what’re you doing?”

Jason places Peter on the other side of the turnstile, and steps over the top of it.

“Aren’t you gonna pay?” Peter asks

“These things have been broken for years, kid. Don’t worry about it.” Jason laughs.

“I’m not a kid,” Peter huffs.

“Sure, and I’m Santa Clause. If you’re not a kid what are you? A baby?” Jason jokes

“I’m not a kid, I’m sev-twelve.” Peter stutters.

“That’s what I thought. A kid.”

“Just don’t call me a kid.” Peter grumbles.

“Ok, Ok. Whatever you say boss.”

Jason and Peter wait a few minutes before their train arrives. The train is packed but they manage to find two seats next to each other on the train.

“Soooo, Mr. Jason, what’s with the hair? Style or are you really old?” Peter inquires. He decided to call him Mr. Jason to be somewhat polite, although Aunt May would’ve argued that his question wasn’t very.

“Mr? What am I a grandpa?” Jason scoffs

“Hey, how am I supposed to know? You’re already going gray, man.”

“Well, for your information, one, I’m twenty-three, two, no my hair is not for style, it’s just like that, and three, just call me Jason.”

“Okie dokie, Jason.”

They sit in silence for a moment. The train makes a stop and new people enter the train car. A man sits next to Peter.

Wary

There’s something off about him, his pupils might be dilated, but Peter can’t tell for certain. Peter scoots closer to Jason. I do not want to deal with a tweaker on a train today.

Watch out! Too late.

The man grabbed Peter by the (only) arm and pointed a gun to his head.

“Are you kidding me, this is the worst week ever.” Peter mutters.

The man smacks Peter in the head with the gun, “S-shut up, kid! Everyone, empty your fucking pockets or I blow this kid’s brains out!” the man yells.

“Oww.” Peter’s eyes begin to water. Peter’s been hit harder before, but getting smacked in the head with a gun and the build up of emotions about his own misfortune for the past week are bubbling up to the surface.

“Hic-hic” Peter feels like an out of control baby, but he doesn’t care. Stupid gauntlet. Stupid Parker. Stupid city. Stupid train. Stupid thief. Stupid gun.

“Peter, breathe. It’s not a good idea to irritate the man with the gun.”

Shut up, Karen. I don’t care.

Peter’s practically bawling, he can feel Miles Jr. prodding him with his leg.

Not right now, little buddy. I’m just gonna cry. I don’t care. I’ll let this loser drag me around and get his cash. I don’t think he actually is gonna shoot his gun, he’s horrified.

Peter stays with the man, not that he technically has a choice, pointed gun and all. It seems his crying is annoying the man and Peter gets another smack to the head. Peter rewards that with more crying. Asshole, what kind of idiot thinks smacking a kid with a gun would make him stop crying.

After walking up and down the train car, the hostage-taker has collected his funds. He lets go of Peter’s arm and pushes him away as he heads towards the door.

As soon as Peter leaves his side, a large figure rushes the thief and slams him into the ground

“What the fuck, get the fuck off me!” the thief yells, head against the floor of the train car.

Peter looks up, it’s Jason holding the thief down. And he looks pissed, Peter can’t tell if he’s imagining it but he swears Jason’s green eyes are glowing.

Jason rewards the thief’s outburst with a fist to the face.

Cough Cough Cough, the thief is sputtering, his teeth are loose in his mouth, and blood is pouring from his mouth.

Jason holds the thief's arm in one hand and twists it, Peter definitely heard a crack.

Before Jason can slam another fist into the man’s face, some guy in a suit of yellow and black, with a bat shaped logo in the middle grabs Jason by the arm and pulls him off of the thief. Peter guesses this guy must be some kind of hero.
Jason says something to the hero, Peter wasn’t focused enough to catch it, a thanks perhaps? The yellow hero grabs the thief by the arms and drags the thief out of the train, and subsequently out of the station.

Jason was sat next to Peter on the train, there was a lull in their conversation, but that was fine.

Jason was looking away from Peter for just a moment, he heard a fast movement to his left and watched as Peter was grabbed by the arm and a gun was pointed to his head.

Are you fucking kidding me?

“Are you kidding me, this is the worst week ever.” Jason hears Peter mutter under his breath, he almost laughs before Peter gets smacked in the head with the gun.

The kid’s eyes are watering. “S-shut up, kid! Everyone, empty your fucking pockets or I blow this kid’s brains out!” the man yells.

Jason’s pissed. He’s trying to fight off the green. He knows he could probably disarm the bastard quickly but that doesn’t come without the risk of the man’s gun going off directly into Peter’s skull.

Fuck. Jason’s nails stab into the palms of his hands. His knee is bouncing anxiously as the man guides Peter to the front of the train car.

What can I do? What can I do?

Right, my phone. When the thief is facing away from him, Jason pulls out his phone, and sends a message to Duke.

“blue line train car 7, platform 8, hostage, hurry.” Jason slides his phone into his back pocket and waits. Hopefully Duke isn’t busy and looks at his phone.

Jason looks back towards Peter, Jesus, the kid is crying, and his crying is turning into sobbing. Jason wishes he could grab that bastard tha is making Peter feel this way and put a knife in his throat.

The sobs are getting louder, and the guy with the gun is looking agitated. Jason swears he can feel it before it happens. The man raises the gun and slams it across the back of Peter's head for the second time. “Shut up!”

Motherfucker. Duke better hurry up, Jason doesn’t know how much longer he can take this.

Peter cries harder.

Jason watches as the man finishes his lap around the train car, he seems to be done robbing people. He pushes Peter away.

Now. Go.

Jason lunges forward and slams the thief to the ground. Finally, he can give this guy the death he deserves. He smashes the thief's face into the ground.

He lifts the man’s head up by his hair and slams his fist into his ugly mug. His teeth are falling out, and blood is spilling out. He looks better this way.

Jason twists his arm hopefully hard enough to break it.

“Kill him. Now’s your chance.” a voice whispers in Jason’s mind.

He raises his arm, and someone grabs it. He almost went to swing on whoever grabbed him, but the familiar yellow suit stopped him.

Jason backed up, he took a deep breath. Duke can handle this.

“Thanks, Signal.” Jason exhales.

“No problem citizen,” Signal says, pulling the thief up by his arms. He leaves the train quickly with the thief.

Jason looks over to Peter, who is sitting on the ground with his hand in his hoodie pocket. He’s not crying as much as he was, but there are still tears falling from his eyes.

Jason walks over to him and holds out his hand, “C’mere, let’s get off this train, Peter.”

Peter removes his hand from his pocket and grabs Jason’s hand. Peter stumbles as he stands up, Jason holds him steady.

“It’s alright, I got you. Take it easy, you might have a concussion.”

“I do not have a concussion. I’m fine.” Peter sniffles.

“You’re definitely not fine, and you’re gonna let me look at your head when we get to the library.” Jason says.

“If you say so, mom.” Peter rolls his eyes.

They walk for a few more minutes, and there she is. Gotham Public Library, probably the only library considering the residents of Gotham. It’s a fairly large, free-standing building.

“So, Gotham, is that the city we’re in?” Peter tries to say casually. Of course it’s called Gotham, the gothic architecture really sticks with the theme.
This kid doesn’t know where he is? “You’ve never heard of Gotham before?” Peter just shrugs.

Jason doesn’t respond, but he knows there’s more to this story that Peter doesn’t seem willing to talk about.

Jason pushes open the large wooden doors of the library. There is a red-headed woman sitting at the help desk, she looks kind.

The woman notices Jason, but her expression freezes for a second when she sees Peter, before putting on a smile. Weird.

“Hey, Babs! Help this ki-I mean my friend, Peter out.” Jason corrects himself since he’s on the receiving end of Peter’s glare.

Babs raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were friends with nine-year-olds, Jason?”

“I’m not nine, I’m twelve!” Peter is still a little bit embarrassed about his new age, but he’s gotta correct people. Twelve is still a “kid” but it’s closer to eighteen than nine is, gotta make do with what you got.

“Peter’s serious about his age, Babs. Get it right.” Jason says in mock seriousness. Now he’s really treating me like a kid, I can still detect sarcasm.

Babs turned to Peter. “I’m sorry for assuming your age, Peter. My name is Barbara Gordon, how can I help you today?”

Peter walked up to the desk, and turned away from Jason. “It’s okay, Ms. Barbara. I’m Peter Parker. Do you have any computers I could use?”

Barbara smiled, “Yes I do, Peter Parker! I can give you a guest pass, or you can sign up for a library card?”

“I’ll just use the guest pass.” Peter said quickly, Peter doesn’t want to explain the lack of address to Ms. Barbara.

Barbara handed Peter a slip of paper with a username and password on it. “This will only work for today, so if you come here more often it would be better to get a library card. The computers are right over there to your right.

There were three rows of tables, with some very out-dated computers sitting on top. Not a flatscreen in sight. Must not get a lot of funding.

Did I time travel too?

“Thank you Ms. Barbara.” Peter turns to walk to the computers, “Hold up, don’t think I forgot that your head is bleeding.” Jason calls after him.

Grrrrr.

“Just let him help you quickly Peter.” Karen says. “If you get this over with you can connect me to the internet quicker.”

Right. Peter gives in and walks over to Jason.

“Babs, can I borrow your first aid kit?”

“Sure, Peter, are you alright?” Babs asks worriedly.

“Don’t bother with that question, he’ll say he is but he’s a little liar.” Jason says. Peter frowns, He’s not wrong.

Jason pulls a rolling chair from behind the desk, “Sit.”

Peter sat down in the chair, Jason pushed the chair next to the table lamp on Babara’s desk. He turned the lamp so that it illuminated the back of Peter’s head.

“Oh my goodness, what happened?” Barbara gasped. Was it really that bad?

“Peter, here, got whacked in the head with a gun twice today.”

“Jason!” Barbara says accusatory.

“Hey! I’m an asshole, but this was not my fault.”

“Language.” Peter says.

“Sorry, sorry.” Jason turns Peter's head, and gently parts his hair. There is a gash across the back of Peter’s head from the gun, but it isn’t bleeding too terribly.

“This might hurt,” Jason grabs an antiseptic wipe from the kit and pats at the wound. Peter doesn’t flinch.

“You’re not bleeding too bad, but I’m going to wrap some bandages on it anyway, you don’t want to get an infection from the Gotham air.” Jason jokes.

Jason wraps the bandage around Peter’s head three times.

“I’m gonna look stupid.” Peter mumbles, Barbara laughs.

“You look fine, like a mummy. Those are cool, right?”

“Are we done now?” Peter groans

“Yes, princess, you may go use the computers now.” Jason performs a half bow.

Peter walks quickly to the computers and chooses the one in the farthest corner away from Barbara and Jason.

“Karen, how should I connect you,” Peter whispers as he types in the guest login.

“This earpiece is made of nanites, I can send a few into the computer, but I won’t be able to respond to you for a few minutes.” Karen responds

“Okay, you do that, I’ll figure out some of our situation while you do.”

A few nanites crawled from behind Peter’s ear, and into the computer.

Hello?

Mile Jr. crawls out from his position in Peter’s hoodie pocket, and up his side.

“Hi, buddy. Sorry, I haven’t been paying attention to you. Today has been a mess.” Peter says softly to the smaller spider.

Happy!

Miles Jr. crawls onto the table and next to the large computer.

Peter looked at the date in the corner of the screen.
It was September 12, 2012. So, time travel too, huh.

Peter clicks on an app that looks like what he assumes to be the search engine, Bingle. What a stupid name.

Bingo! It was in fact the search engine.

Avengers. 140,000 results

Top Result: [uh-ven-jer] Avenger(s) : a person(s) who takes revenge for an offense

That’s fine, I suspected this already.

Tony Stark.

There were three bookface profiles for ‘Tony Stark’ but none of them were Mr. Stark.

Thanos.

20,000 results.

Top Result: Thanos is a nickname for the boy’s name Athanasios.

It’s good that Thanos isn’t here I guess. Wherever here is. I hope they still call the planet earth. I should probably check that?

Earth.

12,000,405 results.

Phew

Gotham, that’s what Jason said this city is called.

Gotham.

33,049,030 results.
“Gotham: Crime Capital of the World,” Seriously, I’m in the crime capital of the world? That would’ve been great for Spider-Man, but not for Peter Parker. A crime lord. Well, he did kill those two guys, but he saved Peter. So, for a crime lord he was good in Peter’s books.

They also seemed to call people like Peter, metas.

Metas.

“Batman hates metas? ‘Metas are banned from Gotham.’”

Great, the scariest vigilante in Gotham hates Peter. He’ll have to be careful, he already intended to, but he’ll be even more careful now.

Peter Bingled a few more details about Gotham, some of the famous heroes of this world, some celebrities. One called Bruce Wayne, reminded Peter a bit of Tony.

He searched a few more names of his friends, but none of their alternate selves were here.

The rogues were a little strange here, unlike back home it seemed these rogues didn’t have a goal other than to sow chaos.

Creepy, Peter paused on a photo of some clown called the Joker. He reminded Peter too much of the Green Goblin.
Peter didn’t notice the nanites crawling back up into the device.

“Peter.” Karen said.

“Jeezus!” Peter jumped, Karen had startled him.

“You okay, Peter?” Jason called across the room.

“I’m fine.” Peter squeaked out, embarrassed.

“My apologies, Peter. I was going to inform you that I completed my connection to the internet.” Karen apologized.

“It’s fine Karen,” Peter whispered, “Do you have any important observations you’ve made?”

“There is no Stark Industries, Wayne Enterprises appears to be the alternative.”

“Yeah, I picked up on that.”

“There is no Peter Benjamin Parker that matches your description.” Peter sucked in a breath. He speculated as much, but it didn’t make it any less weird. He was relieved to know he wouldn’t run into an alternate Peter.

“There is no New York City, its closest equivalent is Metropolis, in Delaware.”

Peter’s heart rate increased. His breathing was heavier. His vision was blurring. Of all the things that were different, that hit Peter the hardest.

New York was Peter’s whole life, he was even willing to die for it, not that it worked.

In the back of his mind Peter was hoping that he’d scrounge up enough money and make his way to this Earth’s New York. He thought that even if he couldn’t have his own New York he could help this one out.

Now he knew, and that hope was gone. There was no sister version of Delmar’s, no Midtown, no Daily Bugle, no F.E.A.S.T.

He couldn’t breathe. His nails were digging into his palms, he could feel the skin tearing.

Miles Jr. was waving his little arms wildly.

Peter!

Peter!

“Peter! Just breathe, buddy. I’m right here.” Jason’s hand was on Peter’s back.

Chapter Text

“Sooo, where’d you get the kid? He’s adorable.” Babs gushed.

“I found him getting attacked in an alley yesterday, while I was working. And today he ran into me, literally.”

“You let him run off alone yesterday!?”

“I wasn’t going to let him, but he got the slip on me.”

“He got the slip on you? This is great.” Babs laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. I was distracted, and the kids got legs.”

“So, his name is Peter Parker. Anything else. ” Babs says.

“It’s hard, I’m trying not to interrogate him, but the kid is obviously homeless, injured, hungry, missing an arm, and yesterday he couldn’t hear or talk!”

“Yeah, I understand. What do you plan to do after this?”

“I’m gonna hopefully convince Peter to get food with me, and maybe after that I can convince him to sleep on my couch or something. I can’t just let him sleep God knows where. He didn’t even know what city we were in earlier. He asked me what Gotham was, Barbara!”

“That is concerning. Any ideas on where he came from? I don’t want to assume the worst but mangled kid randomly appearing in Gotham smells like human trafficking to me.”

“He hasn’t mentioned anything yet, but he sounds like he might be from Metropolis? I’d have to ask him. He’s the unluckiest kid alive. Every time I see him something bad happens to him.” Jason says softly.

Jason clenches his fist. Ugh. He really hopes the kid hasn’t been trafficked.

Jason glances over at Peter, the kid is furiously typing away. “Jeezus!” he yips.

“You okay, Peter?”

“I’m fine.” Peter seemed embarrassed. What is he looking at? Babs can check.

“What’s he looking at Babs?” Just as Jason thought, Babs already had a visual of Peter’s screen.

She opened her mouth and paused before speaking. “The Joker,” she said softly.

Fuck. Why’d he ask. I guess Peter had a reasonable reaction to that bastard's face. Talking about the Joker wasn’t enough to completely set him off anymore, but it still ticked him off a little.

“Jason, Peter doesn’t look alright.” Babs pulled him away from his thoughts.

Peter was pale, he was shaking.

Jason rushed over to Peter’s side, Peter was clearly having a panic attack.

Jason put his hand on Peter’s back and made circles.

“Peter.”

Peter didn’t respond.

“Peter, talk to me buddy.”

No response.

Jason repeated Peter’s name a few more times.

“Peter, just breathe buddy, I’m right here.” Jason said a final time.

Peter looked up, tears in his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry,” Peter cried.

“Can I hug you, Peter?”

“Yeah.”

Jason wrapped his arms around Peter. Peter buried his head in Jason’s shoulder. Peter doesn’t want to have to be strong right now. They sat like that for a minute.

“You don’t need to be sorry, Peter.”

Jason felt something crawl over his hand. Giant. Fucking. Spider.

“Oh my god, What the hell is that-” Jason yelled.

Peter looked up as Jason dropped the hug. Peter pouted. “I wasn’t done with the hug yet.”

“P-peter there’s something on your back.” Jason pointed as the giant spider crawled over Peter’s left shoulder.

“Pfft.” Peter started laughing. Jason felt his lip twitch, but he was still in a staring contest with the spider.

“It’s okay, Jason. This is my friend, Miles Jr.” Peter said between laughs. “He doesn’t bite.”

“You’re friends with a spider? And you’re sure he doesn’t bite?” Jason asked incredulously.

“Yeah, he’s friendly. Say hi, Miles.” Peter held out his arm as Miles Jr. crawled into his palm and waved his little legs. “He’s saying hi, say hi back.”

“Hello, Miles Jr. please don’t eat me.” Jason waved at the spider. “So if there’s a Miles Jr. does that mean there’s a Miles Sr?” Jason asks.

“I guess so, he’s not a spider if that’s what you’re asking. I named him after my friend Miles, we both really liked spiders.” Peter says sadly. There’s a story there, but Jason isn’t going to ask yet.

At that moment Babs rolled up to the table with a bottle of water in her hand. “Do you want something to drink Pet- Oh my goodness is that a tarantula?” Barbara’s voice turned from gentle to shocked.

“Yeah, this is my friend Miles. And I would love some water. Thank you Ms. Barbara.” Peter says, taking the bottle from Barbara as she looks at Miles Jr.

Peter looked at the bottle and then at where his right arm should be. “Jason? Can you open it for me?” Peter knows he could open it with one hand, but maybe he wanted to be babied today, sue him.

Jason takes the bottle and twists off the cap. He hands the bottle to Peter.

Peter chugs it, he didn’t realise how thirsty he had been. He should’ve expected it, he hadn’t drank anything since the time he ate with Red Hood the day before.

“Slow down, or you’re gonna choke.” Barbara says as she wheels herself back to her desk. Just as she says that Peter coughs.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright, Peter. You hungry? I was thinking about getting something to eat.” Jason says

Hmm, do I go with Jason? He’s been pretty nice, and I am really hungry. I don’t want to bother him. But, if he’s going to eat anyways, I might as well go with him.

“Go eat, Peter, you need the calories.” Karen says in his ear.

Ok, ok.

“Um, I don’t want to be a burden. But, if you don’t mind, I'd like to eat with you.”

“Don’t worry, you’re not a burden. Do you need to do anything else here? If not we can get going.” Jason says.

Hmmm. I need Karen to make an identity. But, I can always come back to the library tomorrow, right? The temptation of free food was too strong to resist.

“No, I don’t need anything else.”

“Well then, let's get going. How are you gonna carry that spider?” Jason can’t help but ask.

“Oh, Miles? He likes to hang out in my pocket.” After Peter says this Miles Jr. walks from his arm and into his front hoodie pocket.

“I see. Let’s go say bye to Babs and get outta here.”
Jason and Peter walk to the front desk.

“Goodbye, boys. Have a good day! I hope I see you again, Peter.” Barbara waves.

“Bye, Babs.”

“Bye, Ms. Barbara, I’ll come back soon.” Peter waves back.

Chapter Text

Hmmm. Peter Parker. Who are you?

Barbara didn’t know what to expect when Jason texted that he was bringing over a “nervous kid,” but she didn’t expect to see an adorable, little, mini-Bruce. Yes, he looks like a mini-Bruce.

Jason must not have noticed since the kid definitely doesn’t have the dark hair and blue eyes, but she had seen old photos from her father of the Wayne family. And Peter was very similar in appearance to little Bruce, albeit the light brown hair, hazel eyes, and slightly softer features.

So where on Earth did baby Wayne come from? Peter Parker was definitely the name he went by, he seemed too confident using it for it not to be.

His accent sounds like it’s from Metropolis or that region in general.

He’s twelve years old.

Barbara searches for anyone matching that description, she finds nothing.

She looks through the security footage of the library from the past hour, she takes a clear angle of Peter’s face and runs it through the database.

No matches.

“Ugh!” Barbara is going to rip out her hair. This kid is a ghost! Barbara prides herself on her ability to find people, and now she’s hit a wall.

The fact that she can’t find anything on Peter isn’t terribly strange. It just makes the dreadful theory that Peter was trafficked to Gotham even more likely. She really hopes that’s not the case.

She texts Jason that she couldn’t find anything for now. She’s going to keep her mini-Bruce observation to herself for now, it'd just freak Jason out at this point.

Chapter Text

Jason and Peter had gotten some sandwiches from the best deli in Gotham, and taken them to the nearby park.

They were in the nicer part of Gotham now so Jason wasn’t too worried about anything dangerous happening.

Jason checked his text from Barbara. Nothing. That’s not great.

Jason looks over to Peter, the kid is almost done with his second sandwich.

“So- I mean I can tell so don’t lie to me, is it just you? You on your own?” Jason asks, he said he wasn’t going to pry but this is important.

Peter considers the question, “Yeah, it’s just me now.” He says sadly.

“How’d you end up in Gotham? You obviously aren’t from around here, touting that accent.”

“I don’t know, I’m just here I guess.” Peter knows that’s a concerning answer to that question, but it is the truth. And he hasn’t really given himself the time to come up with a cover story.

Jason frowns, an injured kid magically appearing in Gotham does not sound great.

“Do you have anywhere to stay?”

Peter doesn’t know what it is, but there’s something about Jason that makes Peter want to tell him the truth, at least a smidgeon of the truth.

“Not really, I found an abandoned building nobody seems interested in going into.” Peter shrugs.

“Do you want to have one? I mean I’ve got a place with an extra bed, hot water, and a kitchen. You’re free to stay if you want, man.” Jason offers.

“Do you offer your home to every homeless orphan that runs into you on the street?” Peter wants to accept the offer, but he doesn’t want to be a burden on the man, he’s already done so much for Peter today.

“No, I don’t, I’m not my dad.” Jason laughs.

“Your dad often takes in random children?” What does that mean? Peter raises an eyebrow.

“You don’t know my dad? Shit, you probably don’t if you don’t know what Gotham is. My dad is Bruce Wayne, billionaire that keeps adopting children, he’s gotta be up to seven or something by now.” Jason scoffs. “Don’t let his generosity fool you, he’s still a major asshole.”

“I see. But you really don’t mind if I stay with you? I’ll find a job or something, I don’t want you to waste your money on me.” Peter says nervously. He hopes Jason doesn’t reconsider after thinking about how much it costs to have a kid.

“Dude, I just told you my dad is a billionaire, my allowance is higher than most people’s salaries. I can afford to let you eat all my food.” Jason laughs.

Peter blushes. “I-I’ll take you up on your offer then, but no take backsies. If you already know I’m gonna eat all your food you can’t kick me out when I do.”

“Deal.” Jason holds out his left hand and Peter shakes it “Deal.”

Jason and Peter took the subway back to Crime Alley with no issues this time, thankfully.

They walked for about 15 minutes through Crime Alley before arriving at a dimly lit alley with a garage door at the end. There was a red motorcycle leaned up against the side of the brick alley wall.

“Home sweet home.” Jason said as he lifted the garage door open.

The garage was as you’d expect, it was lit with fluorescent ceiling lights, it had a workbench and some tools hung on the wall. There were a few grease stains on the floor. The smell of the garage reminded Peter of Tony, Don’t think about him right now.

In the right corner of the garage there was a metal staircase leading up to a platform with a door.

Peter followed Jason up the steps and waited for Jason to unlock the door.

“I’m sorry if it’s a little messy, I don’t get a lot of visitors.” Jason said, rubbing the back of his head.

Peter slipped his dirty, too-big dress shoes off at the door.

“It’s great,” Peter said. He wasn’t lying, anything was better than sleeping in a layer of dust for another night. Sorry, Opera House.

Jason showed Peter around, it didn’t take long.

Jason’s place wasn’t anything fancy, but it felt lived in. The front door opened into the living area, there was a large couch, and a television. The kitchen was in the same room, but it felt somewhat separated by the back of the couch. There was no dining table, one guy didn't need one. There was an entryway to a hallway on the right wall.

There were three doors in the hall, two along the long side, and one at the end. The first door was the room Peter would be staying in, Jason apologized for the mess, it was messy. He’d been using it for storage so there were shelves packed full of anything you could need, first aid, gas masks, cleaning supplies, canned goods, ammunition, and there was a twin-sized bed pushed against the wall. Peter wondered if Jason was a doomsday prepper or something.

The second door was to Jason’s room. Jason didn’t open the door for very long, but Peter couldn’t help but notice the very large amount of guns and knives around his room.

The final door at the end of the hall was the bathroom, there was nothing remarkable, it was just a bathroom. There was a window to the fire escape, but thankfully it was covered by a curtain.

Jason and Peter sat down on the couch. Miles Jr. crawled out of Peter’s pocket.
“Can Miles look around?” Peter asks.

“He can as long as I don’t find him in my room.” Jason grimaces, he doesn’t like spiders, but his main issue is that they could be anywhere. This one’s pretty big, so at least Jason will know where it is.

“Miles, did you hear that? No going into Jason's room.” Peter says to the spider.

Miles Jr. acknowledges his request and scurries off.

“I’m not entirely sure a spider can understand English, Peter.”

“I’ll have you know I have a natural affinity for spiders. I can even summon them at will!” Peter says with a flair. Jason laughs. Peter isn’t lying, okay, he hasn’t summoned an army of spiders yet. But he’s pretty sure he could if he tried, he can communicate with them.

“Feel free to use whatever you want, especially the shower.” Jason jokingly pinched his nose.

Peter could feel the heat rising on his face. God, he probably does stink, it’s been what? five or six days since he came to Gotham and he hasn’t changed his clothes once.

“Sorry, I probably smell. Can I use the shower? I don’t have any extra clothes though.” Peter frowned.

“Shit, I didn’t think about that.” Jason put his hand to his forehead. “You, get in the shower, you can wear some of my clothes tonight. While you’re in the shower, I’ll go take my bike and go get you some clothes that will fit.”

“But, I don’t want you to have to spend any more money on me, you’ve already done so much for me already.” Peter always felt guilty accepting things from people. He’d gotten somewhat used to Tony’s spending but Tony was family. Jason was just some guy. No offense, Jason.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got a closet full of clothes a much smaller Jason used to wear back at my Dad’s. I’ll just swing by and fill up a bag.” Jason reassured Peter that it wasn’t a big deal. Jason went into his room, grabbed some clothes and tossed them on the couch next to Peter.

Peter decided not to argue anymore, and Jason left the apartment to get the clothes, leaving Peter alone.

Peter let out a sigh, it was the first time he hadn’t been alone for longer than an hour in the past week.

He grabbed the clothes Jason had left for him, and trudged to the bathroom.

“Karen, I’m taking a shower, so I’m taking off the earbud.”

“Okay Peter.”

Peter put Karen on the counter.

Peter ripped the bandage from his head. He’d have to dig through one of the first aid kits in ‘his’ room. He didn’t want Jason to notice his inhuman healing yet.

The scalding hot water was refreshing. The chill that had been afflicting him for the past few days was fading away. It was a weird sensation scrubbing over the nub where his arm used to be. It was knowing that it should have been there. That he had to open the shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner with one hand.

He closed his eyes and let the water run over his face. He scrubbed and scrubbed the dirt away. He was glad to feel something.

Although it had been five years for everyone else, Peter hadn’t really had time to process his first death, let alone his second one. To Peter they were only an hour apart.

The texture of the grime on his skin reminded him of the texture his body had been when it had turned to ash.

It had taken longer for Peter to go, the others had turned in seconds. But Peter’s regeneration went into overdrive. It had taken twelve long minutes. Twelve long, painful minutes of begging, crying, and pleading in Tony’s arms.

Twelve minutes until Peter’s final apology. He felt terrible. He’d died in front of Tony twice now. He felt worse about the first time. Tony had to deal with that goodbye for five years.

At least for the second time Tony ceased to exist after that. That thought made tears finally spill from Peter’s eyes. He had died but he got to live again. He used his one chance selfishly and let everyone else go instead of him.

Peter braced his arm against the wall of the shower as his body was wracked with sobs.

Peter stayed that way for a few minutes until the hot stream of the shower quickly turned into ice cold water.

Gasp

Peter quickly twisted the handle and shut the water off. He had stood there too long and used up all the hot water.

At least that icy blast snapped Peter from his emotional outburst.

Peter shivered and grabbed a towel from the wall, and dried himself off.

He looked into the mirror, he’s finally looking at himself clearly. He’s not covered in layers of Opera House dust or alleyway grime anymore.

He looked younger than he felt. He mentally felt seventeen, physically felt twelve, and he thinks that he could pass for ten on looks alone.

His face was round, but his cheeks were a little sunken in. Eating two meals in six days will do that when you’re a guy that needs 10,000 calories to maintain a healthy weight.

His eyes were still red from the tearfest he just had. The shadows beneath them were deep. His hair was still dripping wet, he lifted the towel and scrunched his hair, it was still damp but he wasn't dripping water all over the place anymore.

His skin was pale and sallow. His lips were cracking and dry. He looked at his right shoulder. He hadn’t had the chance to look at it so clearly yet. Despite how recently he lost his arm the nub was completely healed over. The skin on his shoulder was a reddish-pink. There were scars that looked like lightning branching out from the stump, they spread across his chest, almost reaching his shoulder. They didn’t branch up higher than his collar bone.

Overall, he looked exhausted, and his ribs were showing far more than they should be. He really needed to take better care of himself from now on. He’d have to live for the people whose lives he ruined.

Take a deep breath Peter.

He tried to push away the negative thoughts. They lost. He lost. He died. twice. He lost them.

Don’t think about it.

He took a deep breath in. And out.

You already cried about it, calm down.

Peter distracted himself and pulled on the clothes Jason gave him, it was a red t-shirt and a pair of drawstring sweatpants. The pants were a good idea, Peter wouldn’t have been able to wear any of Jason’s pants unless they had the drawstring.

It was a bit difficult to tie the drawstring closed with one hand, Peter managed to web one side to the wall while he tied the other string around it.

Peter put Karen back in his ear.

Peter tossed his clothes and the towel into the basket by the door and exited the bathroom.

Peter walked into “his” room and grabbed a first aid kit from Jason’s many shelves. I’m sure Jason won’t mind. Peter took out the roll of bandages and rolled the bandage around his head. It took a few tries, but eventually he got it.

When putting the kit away he noticed something he had forgotten to do yesterday.

His pinkie.

It had previously healed from its bad break, but it had healed crooked because Peter had been to mentally broken to set it straight. Now, he was going to have to break it again.

Peter’s had this happen before, but usually Tony calls Doctor Cho to do it for him. He doesn’t really break bones on purpose, and he can’t just grip it with another hand.

So he does something ridiculous. He holds his pinkie out like a princess drinking tea and sticks it in the crack of the door in the opposite direction of the bend. Stupid.

Okay Peter, you can do this. Peter hypes himself up to smash his own finger.

Peter kicks the door with his foot, and he wills himself to not flinch out of the way of the impact. The door slams into his finger.

*Crack*

That sounded like it worked.

“Motherfucker!”

That hurt. Obviously.

But it wasn’t over yet. Peter went back and grabbed the first aid kit he’d just put away. He buddy-wrapped his pinkie finger to his ring finger with the bandages, so that it healed straight this time.
That should do it.

Peter put the kit away for the second time and went into the living room. He sat down on the couch.

Hi! Hello!

Peter looked to the corner of the ceiling behind the television, and there was Miles Jr. in all his spidery glory building himself a nice cozy web.

“Lucky, I wish I could do that right now.” Peter said to the spider.

Peter had grown to like building his own nest in his room at the Tower, Tony didn’t mind as long as he kept his webs to his room. He would have loved to be sleeping in his own web rather than a twin bed, but he wasn’t in the position to do that now.

Peter grabbed the tv remote and pressed the on button.

The tv turned on to a channel called “International Geographic,” a male mountain was living his life running freely up the side of the Andes. Peter sat and watched, he was tired.

He intended to stay up and wait for Jason to get back, but his eyelids were becoming heavier and heavier. A full meal, a hot shower, clean clothes and a crying session tuckered Peter out.

Peter passed out on the couch to the wonderful British accent of whoever was narrating “International Geographic.”

Chapter Text

Jason raised a hand to knock on the door to the manor. Before he could knock the door opened and Alfred stood at the door.

“Hey, Alf.”

“Master Tim informed me you would be coming.” Alfred said, he seemed pleased.

“I’m not staying so don’t get your hopes up.” Jason grumbled.

“I would never do such a thing, Master Jason. Would you like anything to drink?”

“I’m just here to grab a few things from my room.” Jason said heading towards the staircase.

“Alright, Master Jason, I’ll be around the corner if you need me.”

Jason walked up to the third floor, and walked down the long hall to his room.

“What brings you here, Todd?” Damian’s voice called from behind him.

“None of your business, psycho.” 

“This is Wayne Manor, anything under this roof is my business!” 

“I’m just getting some things from my room, not planting a bomb, kid.” 

“Hmph. I’ve got my eye on you, Todd.” Damian huffed and turned back to wherever he was going.

Jason entered his room.

<em>Hah. Nothing’s changed.</em> Jason couldn’t tell if it irritated him, or made him happy that they hadn’t touched his room. It was even dust free. Alfred still cleaned it, probably waiting for the day he’d come home. It wasn’t happening.

Jason opened his closet, he hooked his arms around ten or so shirts and tossed them on the bed.

He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a couple pairs of jeans and put them with the shirts. He opened another drawer and picked up a few pairs of socks. He’d have to pick up a pack of underwear on the way back, no one wants to borrow underwear. Some shoes too, there were none that would fit Peter.

He grabbed his old coat, and hat. It gets cold in Gotham, can't let him freeze.

He pulled a duffle bag from under the bed and packed the items inside. Jason threw the duffle bag over his shoulder and headed downstairs.

Alfred was in the foyer dusting all the fixtures. 

“Leaving so soon, Master Jason?” Alfred asks.

“Yup.” He popped the ‘p’ “I’ve got places to be.”

“It was nice seeing you again, Master Jason. Please be safe.” Alfred walked Jason to the front door.

“You too, Alfred.”

Jason left the manor, he stopped by a store on the way back to his safehouse to grab Peter a few essentials, a toothbrush, underwear, shoes, and a few other things.

By the time Jason got back to his place the sun had set. He opened the door.

“Hey, Pe-” He cut himself off when he saw Peter asleep on the couch. Peter was sleeping sitting up, his neck was tilted at an uncomfortable angle.

Jason couldn’t leave him sleeping like that, Peter’s neck would be sore in the morning. He put the duffle bag on the floor and approached Peter. He put a hand under his knee and one below his shoulders. Peter didn’t wake up, he was dead weight.

Jason carried Peter to the spare bed, laid him down, and pulled the blanket up to his chin. 

Jason was glad Peter felt comfortable enough to fall asleep here, the kid needed the rest. Jason exited the room, he left the door cracked and the hall light on in case Peter needed anything. 

Jason was feeling pretty tired himself so he got himself ready and went to his own room.

Chapter Text

Bruce finally got back from the gala. He was dog tired, he’d been pulling a few late nights on patrol, and he had a big weapons trafficking case he’d been investigating during the day. He finally stopped the shipment the night before, but he hadn’t gotten a good night's sleep for the past few days.

He walked through the kitchen.

“Good evening, Master Bruce.”

“Hello, Alfred. Anything I missed?” Bruce asked. He hoped the answer would be no, so he could go to bed quicker. Sleep was calling him.

“The young sirs and misses are still out on patrol. Oh, and Master Jason stopped by this afternoon.”

“Jason, what was he here for?” Bruce was delighted that Jason had stopped by the manor. He loved Jason, he just wanted to give the boy the space he’d requested so he stopped inviting him over.

“He said he came to grab a few things from his room. I went and checked what he had taken, it seemed to be a few pairs of his old clothing.”

Odd. What did he need those for?

“Strange, I wonder why?” Bruce said as he walked towards the stairs. “I’m off to bed, goodnight Alfred.” Bruce quickly said. Alfred was great, but sometimes he loved to talk, too much. And Bruce had a nice, warm bed calling his name.

“Good night, Master Bruce.”

Bruce made it to his room quickly and changed into his sleepwear.

Finally, I can sleep.

Bruce quickly fell asleep, he was exhausted. It was not long though, before he dreamed.

It was the boy. He was crying again. Screaming.

“I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. It hurts. Please, I don't want to die.” the boy cried.

The child was begging for his life. Bruce was disturbed. There was an inexplicable sadness in his heart. He wanted to protect this child. To stop his pain. To stop the tears.

Bruce reached out to the boy, he put a hand on his shoulder before the boy vanished.

Bruce awoke with a start, his hand still stretched out into the air.
“Hah.” Bruce sighed. What was with these dreams? What did they mean? Why did the boy remind him of himself?

Too many unanswerable questions.

Bruce picked up the glass of water on his nightstand and took a sip.

He stared at the ceiling for a while.

He eventually fell back asleep, but the image of the boy was in his mind.

Chapter Text

“AHHHH!”

Jason shot out of bed and grabbed his gun. Peter was screaming.

Shit, did someone break in? I didn’t hear anyone?

“I don’t- I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. It hurts. Please, I don't want to die.” Peter cried.

Is someone in the room with Peter? If they touch a hair on his head I’m shooting them. Oh, who am I kidding, I am shooting them for breaking into my house anyways.

Jason slowly opened his door and tiptoed to Peter’s door. The door was still slightly ajar. He peeked in. Peter was thrashing on the bed, begging for his life.

Oh, he’s having a nightmare. What could cause this? Who made Peter like this?

Jason put his gun away and walked over to Peter’s side. He didn’t want to startle Peter so he spoke to him in a gentle voice.

“Peter? It’s okay, you’re safe here.” Jason slowly reached out a hand towards Peter.

“Mr. Stark? I don’t wanna go. Please, I don’t wanna go. I’m sorry Tony.” Peter was shaking.

Jason wrapped Peter up in a hug, “Peter, wake up. It’s just a dream.” He ran a hand through Peter’s hair.

Peter’s body was shaking while he sobbed.

“It’s okay, Peter.” Jason soothed.

“J-jason?” Peter croaked.

“Yeah, buddy. Are you awake now?” Jason looked down at Peter. Peter’s eyes were wide open now.

“Y-yeah. I’m sorry.” Peter’s voice cracked.

“It’s alright I thought someone broke in, I ran in here guns blazing.” Jason laughed.

“I’m sorry for worrying you.” Jason’s attempt at humor seemingly made Peter feel worse.

“Hey, Peter, look at me.” Peter looked up and met Jason’s eyes.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. I don’t know what that was about, but if you need to talk about it, I’m here for you.” Jason says quickly.

“I know we just met today, Jason, but I really feel like I can trust you. I-I don’t wanna talk about my dream right now, but I really appreciate you. I know you didn’t have to be so nice to me.”

“I feel like I can trust you too, Pete. I know this is a bit weird, but you remind me of my little brothers. I just wanna help you out.” Jason looks away and scratches the back of his neck.

“Thank you, Jason.” Peter squeezes Jason tighter. “I don’t know if I can fall back asleep yet. I-I’m scared to sleep.”

“Well,” Jason looks out the window. “It’s probably about three in the morning, but I’m used to staying up late. You wanna go sit on the couch and watch a movie?” Jason offers.

“I’d like that.”

Jason relinquishes Peter from his hug and they go to the living room.

“You ever seen Tyrannosaurus Rome - Dinosaur Colosseum?” Jason grabs the remote.

“No, but that sounds awesome.” Peter grins.

“Prepare for greatness.” Jason turns on the television.

–

The next day.

Jason woke up on the couch with an uncomfortably warm weight on his side. Peter was asleep and holding onto Jason’s arm for dear life. That’s adorable.

Jason wanted to get up, but he decided he let Peter sleep a little longer, he reached for his phone that was on the coffee table.

Haaa. 10:30 in the morning. He should get up. He slowly pulled his arm from Peter’s, and propped the sofa pillow under him. He didn’t wake up.

Might as well make some breakfast.

Jason stepped into the kitchen and started getting ready to cook.

-

“Peter, time to get up.”

“Five more minutes, Karen.” Peter groaned groggily.

“Do I sound like my name is Karen?”

Oh, it was Jason. Peter internally smacked himself in the face.

“S-sorry Karen used to wake me up.” Peter stuttered. Why’d you make it awkward? He probably wouldn’t have even asked who Karen was.

“Peter, I still wake you up. It’s a rather difficult job, I can’t just physically shove you like everyone else.” Karen said into his ear.

“Who’s Karen?” Jason asked.

“My friend, she’s really nice.” Peter smiled. Gotta earn some Karen points back after ignoring her for too long.

A friend? Whoever she is, she let this happen to Peter. “Yeah, do you know where she lives?”

“No, she’s not around anymore.” Why’d I bring Karen up? Jason’s definitely going to want to find anyone that knows me.

“You make it sound like I’m dead, Peter. I’m hurt, I can’t die.” That’s my goal, K.

Jason didn’t think too highly of anyone Peter’s mentioned. That Tony guy obviously had something to do with Peter’s death, and whoever Karen was, seems like she abandoned Peter too.

Peter sniffed the air “Is that pancakes?” He jumped up off the couch.

“Why don’t you grab a plate.”

Peter grabbed a plate and Jason generously stacked it with pancakes.

“Jason you’re the best.” Maybe it was the hunger talking, but Jason was like an angel to Peter right now.

“That is one thing I’ve been found guilty of.” Jason smirked.

Jason glanced at Peter’s hand as he handed Peter the plate. Bandages? Peter’s fingers were bandaged together.

“What happened to your hand?”

“Oh, I got up in the middle of the night, and I tripped on something and fell. I think it’s just sprained but it hurt so I wrapped it up.” Peter's eyes didn’t meet Jason’s.

“Want me to take a look at it?” Jason offered. If it hurt so bad he wrapped it up, maybe it was broken?

“N-no I’ll take the bandage off later, and the one on my head, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“If you say so.” Jason didn’t know why Peter was so nervous about it, but if he swore he was fine, it was probably okay. Peter knew his own body better than Jason.

They took their seats on the couch and they dug into the pancakes.
-

“I really appreciate your help, Jason. I really needed it.” Peter looked up at Jason.

“Like I said, don’t worry about it. You can stay as long as you need.” Jason rested his arm on the back of the couch. Peter looked away.

*Sniff sniff*

“Pete, are you crying?”

“I- I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’m crying all the time now.” Peter tried to laugh as he was crying but it came out as a squeak.

“It’s alright.” Jason put a reassuring hand on Peter’s shoulder. “No offense, but you look like you’ve had a rough week.”

“Hah. It’s been the worst week of my life. I don’t know what to do anymore, I’ve never been to Gotham, I can’t go home, there’s nobody left for me. I just want to be happy again, and I can’t. I wanna have friends. I wanna be normal.” Peter said exasperated.

“You might not believe me, but I know exactly how you feel right now.” Jason sighed. “I know I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but I want to help you, Peter.”

“I-I want your help Jason. I just feel useless. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“You can repay me by eating, drinking, resting, and being happy.” Jason rustled Peter’s hair.

Peter gave Jason a one-armed hug, Jason returned it.

Peter backed away, embarrassed. “Sorry, I like hugs.”

“It’s alright, I’ve got the arms for it.” Jason flexed his arm.

“Ouch, too soon man. Bragging about your arms in front of the less fortunate.” Peter grimaced.

“Sorry, sorry. Hey, you’ll only have to work out half as much, toothpick.”

“Blegh.” Peter stuck his tongue out.

The day went fine, they went and got lunch, Jason made spaghetti for dinner.

All in all, it’s been Peter’s best day since arriving in Gotham.

Chapter Text

3 days later

The days went by peacefully. Jason and Peter talked more, Peter ate more. 

It was nice. 

Tonight, Jason said he had to get back to working. And Peter was getting stir crazy.

Jason didn’t tell Peter what he did for work but he vaguely described it as a job, at night, with weapons. Peter liked Jason, he hoped it wasn’t anything illegal.

Peter was bored. He was going to go outside tonight. It was a dangerous idea, but Peter planned to stay on the roofs. 

He told Jason goodnight as he left for work. He waited another fifteen minutes after he heard Jason’s motorcycle rev off, and had a staring contest with Mile’s Jr. before he finally slipped on his shoes and opened the bathroom window.

He crawled out onto the fire escape and headed to the roof. There was a taller building that looked climbable. 

Peter hadn’t tried climbing anything since he lost his arm, but he could walk horizontally on a wall anyways so he should be able to crawl with just one arm.

He stuck his hand to the wall, and tested his weight against it. It held.

Peter looked around. No one was watching. 

He climbed to the top of the building; the neighboring rooftop was only a three foot gap. Peter jumped it. He kept going, walking past rooftop after rooftop.

The alleys below were loud and overwhelming, but the separation the height provided was comforting to Peter. He wanted to swing, but he knew that would be stupid. One day.

Peter walked for a while before he arrived at another taller building. This time there was a ladder. Peter climbed the ladder, he took a deep breath.

He walked over to the edge of the building and sat down, swinging his legs over the side.

Peter sighed and looked up at the sky. No second moons. It was a relief to see that the sky was still a mirror to his own. 

He stared into the night, into the stars, into space. He was never going to space again. It was an overall traumatic experience. The dying and all.

It had been an equally terrifying and awe-inspiring experience to see the Earth rapidly shrink in the distance. If he'd had any other introduction to space than a cataclysmic event he’d have been willing to check it out again. Space was ruined now. 

He leaned forward. He stuck his hand to the concrete and peered over the ledge.

“Wait!” a voice shouted from behind, startling Peter. He had unstuck his hand in his shock and now he was tilting off the ledge.

The man grabbed Peter by the collar and hoisted him away from the ledge.

“What were you thinking! That’s dangerous!” the man in the black with blue suit said worriedly. He looked like the Nightwing guy Jason had mentioned.

“I was fine until you startled me.” Peter grumbled, who was this guy to ruin Peter’s nice relaxing moment.

“I’m sorry… I thought you were going to jump.” the man frowned.

“I was just sitting, man. Enjoying the nice Gotham air.” Peter gestured with his arm.

“You do know that’s not a thing that people do here right?” Nightwing seemed perplexed. 

“Well I’m here, and I’m doing it. What do you want now? You finished “saving” me.” Peter did air quotes with one hand when he said ‘saving’.

“Now I want to make sure you get home safely. It’s too late to let you go back alone. There’s a curfew, aren’t your parents worried?” Nightwing asked.

“If I had ever met them, I’m sure they would be.” 

“S-sorry, It was rude of me to assume things. Well, is your guardian aware of where you are right now?” Nightwing dug.

“He’s at work, I got bored.” Peter said slowly. He didn’t want to tell this guy everything, but he was a hero too, right? He had to be trustworthy. 

“Why don’t you let me walk you home? Please. I’m sure you don’t want to risk being mugged on your way back.” 

Peter considered it for a moment. He didn’t really feel like climbing and jumping his way back. And he didn’t want to deal with any muggers. 

“Fine, I’ll go with you. Try anything funny and you’ll pay.” Peter warned.

“Jeez, kid. I’m Nightwing, not the Joker.” Nightwing huffed. 

Nightwing kneeled down, “Climb on.” He pointed to his back.

“Seriously?” Peter questioned. 

“Hey, it’s quicker. And if you’re not afraid of heights I can show you my grappling hook.”

“Do you swing around on it?” Peter asked excitedly. 

“That I do. You wanna get on and see?”

“Hell yeah!” 

It was as smooth as swinging with his webs, but the rush of falling through the air was something Peter didn’t think he’d experience today. It was awesome to say the least.

Nightwing dropped Peter off on the roof near the fire escape. 

Peter pushed open the window and crawled back inside Jason’s apartment. 

He greeted Miles Jr. who was spinning a second web above Peter’s bed. 

Peter went to sleep that night with a smile, for the first time in a while.

Dick was swinging from roof to roof. He wasn’t supposed to patrol Crime Alley, but Jason had been slacking for a few days for some unknown reason; and Dick was visiting the manor for a few days so he might as well go and patrol.

That was when he spotted a small figure sitting dangerously close to the edge of the building. He rushed over. 

“Wait!” he yelled as the kid leaned forward.

The kid was startled, Dick ran and grabbed the collar of the shirt the kid was wearing and pulled him away from the ledge.

“What were you thinking! That’s dangerous!” Dick said worriedly. The kid looked at Dick with an oddly familiar Batman-like glare.

“I was fine until you startled me.”the boy grumbled. 

“I’m sorry… I thought you were going to jump.” Dick realized it might have been his fault if the boy had fallen.

“I was just sitting, man. Enjoying the nice Gotham air.” the boy waved with his arm. Arm. Singular. Why was there a vaguely Bruce-like, one armed kid, hanging out on a rooftop at night?

“You do know that’s not a thing that people do here right?” Dick was confused. The kid also had a non-Gothamite accent. Not a lot of people came to Gotham.

“Well I’m here, and I’m doing it. What do you want now? You finished “saving” me.” The boy did air quotes with one hand when he said ‘saving’. Dick smiled. The kid looked like Bruce and acted like Jason.

“Now I want to make sure you get home safely. It’s too late to let you go back alone. There’s a curfew, aren’t your parents worried?” Dick asked, hoping to glean some information on who this boy was.

“If I had ever met them, I’m sure they would be.” 

“S-sorry, It was rude of me to assume things. Well, is your guardian aware of where you are right now?” Oops .

“He’s at work, I got bored,”the kid said. Dick observed the boy. He even dressed like a younger Jason too.

“Why don’t you let me walk you home? Please. I’m sure you don’t want to risk being mugged on your way back.” Where does this kid live? He had to know.

The boy paused for a moment, seemingly pondering Dick’s suggestion. I’m your friendly neighborhood Nightwing. Come on kid.

“Fine, I’ll go with you. Try anything funny and you’ll pay.” the boy threatened. His threat was more cute than scary.

“Jeez, kid. I’m Nightwing, not the Joker.” Dick huffed. 

The kid was amazed by the grappling hook. Dick was just glad he didn’t get vomited on. That happens way too often.

The kid guided him in a strangely familiar direction. Dick was shocked when he dropped Peter off and watched him crawl into Jason’s apartment window. 

He immediately pulled out his phone.

Aww. Just like our father.

Chapter Text

Jason was having a good night. He knocked a few skulls. Had a few meetings with the crew. Knocked more skulls.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. His phone buzzed.

Dick met Peter? How? He said he caught Peter from a roof? Why was Peter on a roof? Was he okay? Is he hurt? And what did Dick mean by “Bruce-shaped”? The thought of Peter threatening Dick did make him smile a little.

Jason climbed down from the roof he sat on and sprinted to his bike.

Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.

Jason’s phone buzzed repeatedly. Jason groaned.

Why’d Dick have to meet Peter? He’s so goddamn annoying. At the very least he knew Dick wouldn’t tell everyone about Peter. 

Jason sped up his bike, and drove very illegally back to his apartment. He needed to check on Peter. He quickly unlocked his door and stepped inside. He took off his mask quickly, he didn’t want to explain Jason=Red Hood tonight.

Jason walked to Peter’s room, the door was open. He peered inside. 

Jason let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Peter was asleep. He looked uninjured.

Jason felt stupid for overreacting. He decided to call it quits for the night. In the back of his mind he was worried that if he left Peter would disappear.

What if Dick didn’t find him? What if he got attacked on the way home, and Red Hood wasn’t there. Soft. It’s been a while since Jason had been so worried about someone. He was always somewhat worried for his brothers, but he knew they could handle themselves. Peter was just a regular, albeit traumatized, kid.

Jason fell asleep thinking of what's the best thing he could do for Peter.

Peter woke up refreshed. He got up, took a shower, got dressed and entered the kitchen to the wonderful smell of bacon in the air.

“You hungry?” Jason offered Peter a plate.

“When am I not? Thanks, Jason.” Peter accepted the plate of food.

“I don’t know, I swear you eat so much and you’re barely gaining any weight.” Jason was a bit worried, it could be argued that he was excessively feeding the boy, and he was still bone-thin.

“I’ve got a fast metabolism.” Peter said as he scarfed the bacon down.

“I can see that. Hey, I was wondering, do you ever need to charge that?” Jason asked as he pointed to the device behind Peter’s ear. Jason couldn’t help but ask. It had been bugging him, Peter couldn’t hear at all when Jason had met him as Red Hood, but he’d been wearing the hearing aid now so it wasn’t surprising that Peter could hear Jason better. Did he charge it somewhere? It shouldn’t affect both his ears? Maybe he still can’t hear out of one ear?

Peter paused for a moment. Uhh. Oh, Karen! Peter had completely forgotten that Stark Industries didn’t exist here. Most technology shouldn’t be able to go without charge for a hundred years. How should he answer this?

“My-uh Uncle Tony made it for me. The battery lasts reallllly long. He liked to try and improve things.” Peter managed to get that out. Now, please Jason, drop the topic, pretty please!

Jason narrowed his eyes. “If he can make something like that, how come I’ve never heard of him? What’s his last name?” Jason remembered the way Peter said Tony’s name in his dream. It wasn’t pleasant. Jason was gonna track this guy down and ask him some questions. 

“Tony, Tony Stark. See, you can see the name.” Peter tilted his head and pointed at the name ‘Stark’ written on the side in white lettering. Whatever, he’d lean into the Uncle Tony Stark angle. Tony’s dead, he won’t mind. He wouldn’t if he was alive either. Peter frowned for a moment.

“I see. I was wondering if there’s anything you wanted to do to Peter?” Jason thankfully seemed to steer away from the topic of ‘Tony Stark.’ 

“I’m not sure honestly, do ya got any ideas?” Peter propped his head on his head. 

“I was curious if you might be interested in going to school? The semester has already started but it’s only been one month.”

School. Peter normally didn’t like school, he had wanted to patrol more instead. Maybe school would be a welcome distraction to his current situation.

“I’m interested. I’m actually really smart. I think it would be fun.” Peter said without thinking much into it.

“Peter, may I remind you, you have no identification currently.” Karen said into his ear.

Shit. Peter may have accidentally totally forgotten to go back to the library and get that done. Jason’s job seems to be criminally inclined, maybe I can ask him? That should be fine?

“Awesome! I can get the paperwork set up pretty quickly-” Jason was saying before Peter cut him off.

“Um. Jason, speaking of paperwork… Idonthaveanydocumentationandidontknowifilegallyexistcanievengotoschool?” Peter rushed through the sentence hoping Jason wouldn’t have too long to consider a response.

Hmm, that confirms what information Barbara found, absolutely nothing. Jason wasn’t responding quickly enough so Peter started bouncing his knee anxiously.

“It’s alright, Peter. I kinda figured as much.” Peter sighed. He hadn’t completely worried Jason.

“I’ve got a friend who could help us out. You remember Barbara from the library?” Jason asked.

Barbara, from the library can illegally make me exist? I guess I’ll be getting this done at the library anyways. 

“Yeah?” 

“Put your shoes and coat on and we’ll go get this figured out.” 

Peter and Jason got on his motorcycle, Jason handed Peter an extra helmet. “Hold on tight, I’ve been told I’m a terrible driver.” 

“That’s not something to brag about?” Peter responded.

Whoever said that about Jason was right. Peter thought he was going to die for a third, and fourth time today. That is to say, being a passenger on Jason’s bike was a spiritual experience that definitely brought you closer to God, with all the prayers you’d be saying.

They made it to the library alive, thankfully Peter’s silent prayers worked. Peter got off the motorcycle with unsteady legs. Peter nearly kissed the ground.

They walked into the library and Barbara was there as expected. The library was empty, not a surprise for 10:30 AM in Gotham.

“Hi, Peter! It’s so good to see you again.” Barbara smiled.

“You too, Ms. Barbara.” Peter smiled back, Barbara was nice, she reminded him of May.

“Where’s my cheerful greeting, Babs?” Jason faked annoyance.

“Hello to you too, Jason.” She said in a similarly fake grumpy voice. 

“Well, what brings you two into my lair.” Barbara joked.

“Peter was thinking about going to school.” Jason said.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, Peter. Do you need help signing up?” Barbara asked.

“Signing up for school requires an identity… Can you help me with that?” Peter asked. 

“Of course!” Barbara said just as cheerfully as she had greeted him.

Peter hoped Barbara wouldn’t ask why. She didn’t.

They gathered around Barbara’s computer while she not-so-legally pulled up some government forms. 

“Will you get in trouble, Ms. Barbara? I don’t want you to get in trouble for me.” Peter was a little worried. He and Ned used to try and hack Tony for fun, but Tony let it slide, and after a while FRIDAY even stopped reporting it. But Barbara probably wasn’t friends with whoever ran these systems and this wasn’t for fun.

“Peter, I’m gonna tell you a secret. I can hack into anything, and I’ve never been caught.” Barbara whispered like there were actually other people in the library.

“Okay, I trust you, Ms. Barbara.” Peter’s worries didn’t lessen, but if Barbara was confident and knew the risks he wasn’t going to stop her.

They finally got into the personal details of the documentation.

“So, Peter. What's your full name and birthday?” Barbara asked.

Jason was listening intently, today he was going to find out as many details about Peter as possible.

“Peter Benjamin Parker. August 10th, -” Peter paused, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the two adults. If I’m twelve– “ 2000.” 

Jason and Barbara were concerned that Peter had to think so hard about his birthday. Did he not know the year?

“Okay, that’s good. Do you know your parents' names?”

“I didn’t know my parents, I was raised by my Aunt Maybelle Parker-Reilly and my Uncle Benjamin Parker.” Peter answered. 

“What about Tony? I thought he was your Uncle?” Jason looked at Peter. Barbara was confused but she didn’t mention it.

“Oh, after Ben and May died, I went to live with Tony and his wife Pepper, they were friends with May.” Peter tried to explain.

“Oh, ok.” Jason responded. No, not okay. Peter doesn’t have parents, his guardians died, and he went and lived with some mystery people that don’t seem to care where he is? Maybe Babs finds something when she looks. Jason wasn’t hopeful.

Barbara went to put Benjamin Parker and May Parker-Reilly on the document. 

“Peter, I’m not saying that you’re lying. But, I can’t seem to find any of these names you’ve given me. Do you know why?” Barbara asked gently.

Peter was dreading this question, he knew it was going to happen. But, he had a plan. A great one if he does say so.

“I don’t know?” Peter squeaked, he tried to sound confused, and twisted his expression.

“Peter, has anyone told you, you’re a terrible liar.” Karen quipped. You just did, Karen.

That answer did not make Jason feel any better, Peter had told him previously he had lived in Metropolis. How did a kid and his whole ‘family’ not exist at all? Peter had said he’d had an education.

“Peter, you said you were really smart, what school did you go to? Maybe Babs can find information that way?” Jason asked.

Quick, Peter. Think quick. 

“I was homeschooled.” Peter facepalmed internally. Gods, they’re gonna think he grew up in some underground society. Maybe he just has to lean into that angle, it’s crazy, but at least it’s an explanation. 

Like Peter had thought, Jason and Barbara shared a concerned look. 

“Kid, do you have any information you think we can find?” Jason asked with a hand to his forehead. Peter’s mystery life was giving him a migraine.

“No- and I said don’t call me kid.” Peter responded. Jason sighed.

“You said you were from Metropolis, do you have an address?” Jason thought that there had to be something .

“Okay, I might have lied about being from Metropolis. I lived near Metropolis. I don’t have an address, Tony always called it the ‘Compound.’” Peter explained. He technically wasn’t lying. His New York was close enough to Metropolis, and they had the same accents. And he did live at the compound. The Avengers Compound, and then the tower of course.

Jason rubbed his hands over his face. Maybe it wasn’t human trafficking. Did Peter live in a cult or something?

Barbara was having similar suspicions.

“Babs, just make some stuff up.” Jason didn’t even want to try and come up with any ideas for Peter’s background. “Just say that Jason Price is his guardian.” Jason told her the fake identity he had made for the legal side of his life. He couldn’t exactly go around as Jason Todd, after he died.

“Is that your last name Jason?” Peter asked. He hadn’t actually heard Jason’s last name before.

“Nah, but it’s the one I use for work.” Jason lied, it was easier that way. “My real last name is Todd.”

“Oh, okay.”

Barbara finished the necessary documents with very little input from Jason or Peter. Now it was time to sign up for a school.

“Do you know what school you want to go to Peter?” Barbara asked.

“No, I don’t know what schools there are.” 

“I was thinking about Gotham Prep.” Jason said.

“Are you sure that would be a good idea?” Barbara questioned Jason with a knowing look.

Jason knew why she asked that question. Was it a good idea to send Peter to a school where his family went to? Especially if he was keeping Peter a secret? No, probably not. Was every other school in Gotham a complete hell hole? Yes, yes they were. If Peter was going to school, it had to be a good one. Besides, Peter was much younger than his siblings so he’d be in a completely separate part of the school.

“Yeah, it’s the only good school, and Peter will be in the North Building.” Jason stated. Barbara could read between the lines.

Peter didn’t understand why being in the North Building was important but he didn’t really care.

“According to my research, Gotham Preparatory Academy is a very good school, Peter. A diploma from there would look very nice.” Karen told Peter.

If Karen likes it, it should be fine. Right?

“I wanna go. I wanna go to Gotham Prep.” Peter said.

“Well, you’ll need to take the online entrance exam since you are joining during the semester.” Barbara said.

“Can I take it now? I’m ready to do it.” Peter was eager to get this part done with, he was confident in his ability to take an eighth grade entrance exam. He’d aced the one at Midtown.

“Are you sure, I’m not doubting your ability-Okay, scratch that, I am doubting your ability. No offense, but you said you were homeschooled at a compound so.” Jason looked at Peter apologetically.

“Why don’t we have Peter take the practice exam? Then we can see whether Peter can take it today, or whether he needs to study a bit more.” Barbara interrupted.

Peter could do that.

Barbara found the practice exam, it was 60 questions, over math, science, and english. It had a 120 minute timer.

Barbara quirked a brow and turned to Peter. “Are you sure you want to do this now? It might take a while, it’s not easy.”

“I bet you ten dollars that I can finish it in thirty.” Peter smirked. Peter was a Stark Industries intern at fifteen. It’s not bragging if it’s true.

“Deal.” Barbara shook his hand.

“Cocky, Peter.” Jason shook his head. “If you can take both the practice exam and the entrance exam, you can pick dinner tonight.”

Barbara moved away from the computer and Peter pulled up a chair. 

The practice exam was easier than Peter thought it would be, the English was somewhat tricky, but that just wasn’t his strong suit.

He leaned back in the chair stretching out his arm like he had done something strenuous.

The test was autograded and the score presented itself on the screen.

99.8/100

“Ta-da!”

“Wow! That’s impressive Peter!” Barbara clapped her hands.

“Damn, and I was really craving Marco’s tonight.” Jason whistled impressed.

Peter smiled. “Can I take the entrance exam now?” Peter asked.

“Absolutely,” Peter moved over so Barbara could pull it up on the computer.

The entrance exam was of a similar difficulty and format as the practice exam, and Peter easily matched his previous score. 

Barbara handed him ten dollars, and Peter was oddly happy about it. It was the first time he’d had any cash of his own in this world. And Jason agreed to Chinese takeout for dinner.

Peter helped Barbara put the finishing touches on his application and sent it to the school. Barbara said that she should be emailed within a week, and she would text Jason the results. 

Peter thanked Barbara repeatedly before he and Jason left the library. He was incredibly grateful that Barbara had taken the time to help them.

Jason and Peter picked up the takeout, went back to the apartment, watched a movie, hung out. It was a great day.

For once, Peter was feeling hopeful for the future. 

Chapter Text

Four Days Later

Bruce was awoken by another strange dream, they were happening often now. Nearly every night.

They were always about the boy, but whenever Bruce reached out to him the dream would end.

He was getting frustrated, his sleep was less and less, and he couldn’t stop his heart from worrying about the boy. He obviously had some connection to him, he just didn’t know what it was or why it was happening.

Bruce was leaving to go off-world for over a month tomorrow, maybe he could call up Zatanna to discuss this problem.

Bruce turned to look at the clock. 4:15 AM. He groaned. There’s no point in trying to fall asleep now. 

Bruce decided he’d get ready for the day. He’d have breakfast with the family and say his farewells before he was gone from home for a month.

A whole month. Bruce was used to leaving for Justice League business but this still felt like a long time. He knew his children could handle themselves, but the worry never left him. He always thought about how he wasn’t there for Jason, when he should’ve been. 

The guilt ate away at him for a while, but he knew there was nothing he could do but accept Jason’s terms to their relationship. Leave him alone. He was starting to feel a similar guilt for the boy who had become a constant in his dreams. The boy was hurting, but Bruce could never reach him.

He cleared his mind after he had finished getting ready, he should act less gloomy when saying goodbye to his children.

He looked down to the watch he had put on. 7:00 AM sharp. Now it’s a reasonable time to go into the kitchen. 

He headed down the long halls to the kitchen, Alfred was already there as always, and preparing breakfast.

“Good morning, Master Bruce.” Alfred said before Bruce had even announced himself.

“Good Morning, Alfred.” Bruce returned the greeting. He headed to his seat at the table, Alfred had already placed a cup of coffee and a copy of the Gotham Gazette. How Alfred had known Bruce was coming downstairs, he didn’t know. But that was just how Alfred was. A perfect butler.

Damian arrived silently and took his seat next to Bruce. The kid believed due to his lineage he must sit next to his father. Bruce didn’t mind, although Damian’s attitude was stubborn and annoying, he thought it was sweet.

“Greetings, Father.” 

“Good morning Damian.”

A few minutes passed and Tim and Duke arrived in the dining room. 

“Hey B.”

“Good morning, Bruce. Damian.” 

“Good morning, boys”

“Drake. Thomas.” Damian tilts his head in acknowledgement.

They start a small conversation, and wait for Stephanie and Cass to arrive.

Everyone is seated at the table, Alfred serves breakfast and takes his own seat.

Cass looks at Bruce, “tired.”

He sighs. “Yes, I am.” 

“Worried. Sad.”

“It’s nothing to worry about, Cass.” Bruce waved a hand.

“You can always talk to us if you need to, B.” Tim says.

“I know, just having late nights. Nothing serious.” Bruce slightly smiled.

Tim narrowed his eyes. He was suspicious. 

Bruce knew he probably looked exhausted, he had been having too many dreams that kept him awake in the early hours of the morning. He didn’t want to worry his family. They couldn’t prevent dreams anyways. Bruce was always the type of guy to tough it out alone, and he wasn’t going to change now.

No one pressed Bruce about his tiredness after that. 

Breakfast was delicious as always, thanks to Alfred. Everyone enjoyed it.

Bruce spoke up.

“As some of you are aware, I will be leaving this afternoon. In my absence Dick will be staying over and taking my role in patrol. I will be gone for about a month, I may be back earlier, but I will be difficult to contact. Please, do stay safe everyone. Be responsible, I trust you all.” Bruce stated.

“Awww! I’ll miss you too B.” Stephanie got up and gave Bruce a hug.

“We got it.” Tim said.

“We’ve got it handled.” Duke immediately followed up with.

Cass didn’t say anything, but she nodded her head reassuringly.

“The manor shall not fall under my watch, Father.” Damian tilted his head up proudly.

“Thanks, everyone. Now get ready for school. You can’t be late.” Bruce shrugged Stephanie off and rised out of his chair.

He said his farewells and prepared for his trip. Despite their assurances, worry still tugged at his heart. 

“Don’t worry Master Bruce, they are very capable.” Alfred approached Bruce.

“I know Alfred, it’s a father’s plight.” He sighed. 

Chapter Text

Peter rolled out of bed. Jason worked late last night so Peter decided he would try to make breakfast this morning.

Goal: Bacon Pancakes

Ingredients: Acquired

Difficulty: Medium

Peter was wanting to get more independent. He was getting the hang of the whole ‘one-arm’ thing, but he had yet to cook anything. Today was the day.

Peter got the mix and the bacon on the counter, and a few other ingredients. He put the pan out and the mixing bowls. He preheated the oven.

He got everything put together and started baking the bacon in the oven.

He managed to bake the bacon and mix it with the pancakes and cook them on the pan. He turned to grab plates from the cabinet. Szzzzz. Peter could pick up on the minute sound of the pancakes beginning to burn. He quickly swiveled in an attempt to reach out and turn off the stovetop. Instead, he knocked into the handle of the pan and it began to fall. 

No! My hard work.

Before Peter could think logically his spidey-react time decided for him and reached out to grab the pan. By the bottom.

Szzzzzz. It burned .

“Oh my god! Godamnit!” Peter yelled, he put the pan back on the stovetop instead of dropping it on the floor. 

Peter bit his lip. What are you supposed to do with burns again?

“Oh my god! Godamnit!” Jason awoke to yelling, not his first time.

He jolted out of bed and ran to the kitchen. “Peter! Are you okay?” 

Peter was standing by the sink, holding his hand out under the water.

“I-I burned my hand.” Peter’s eyes were watering.

Jason took stock of the kitchen, it looked like Peter had been cooking.

“Let me look at it.” Jason walked towards Peter and held out his hand.

Peter handed Jason his hand, palm up. His skin was bright red and blistering from his fingertips to his palms. “That doesn’t look great.” Jason frowned.

“It doesn’t feel great.” Peter groaned. Jason felt bad, he could tell Peter was cooking to do something nice for him, and he got hurt. 

“Go sit down, I’ll go grab the first aid kit.” 

Peter went and sat on the couch, carefully holding his hand out. 

Jason came back quickly and sat down next to Peter.

Jason took out the antibiotic cream and gently rubbed it across Peter’s palm. Peter flinched. “I’m sorry, I know it probably hurts.” 

“It’s okay, it’s my fault. I was being stupid.” 

“It’s not your fault. It was an accident. You were trying to do something nice.” He really did appreciate what Peter was trying to do. 

Jason wrapped Peter’s hand with a bandage.

“I just mess everything up, I’m not worth your time.” Peter was crying again. 

If Jason’s heart had never broken before, it had now.

“Peter.” Jason put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Look at me.” 

Peter lifted his head.

“Peter. You don’t mess everything up. I’d rather be here with you than spend my time anywhere else. I haven’t been this happy in a while, you’re a joy to be around.” Jason hugged Peter.

“You wouldn’t think so if you really knew me.” Peter grumbled, but he leaned into the hug.

“I highly doubt that. I’m more worried about what you’d think of me.” Jason laughed but it wasn’t out of humor. He was worried about what Peter would think if he knew about the Red Hood. How he’d spent a long time in a seemingly endless rage, hurt his family, killed people. Heck, he still killed people.

Peter leaned back, seeming offended at the notion of Jason being a bad person. “I could never hate you Jason! You saved me, and you’ve helped me a lot even though I can’t do anything for you.” Jason blushed, he wasn’t used to getting any admiration. Not even when he was a Robin, let alone as Red Hood.

“I’m flattered that you think so highly of me, Pete.” Jason rustled Peter’s hair.

“Not cool man, I can’t even fix my hair. I’ve got no hands now!” Peter huffed.

“You look fine. Now, I’m going to figure out the rest of breakfast. So you, relax.” Jason stood up.

Peter's ears were tinged with pink. “Sorry.”

“It’s the thought that counts, kid.”

Bzzt. Bzzt. Jason’s phone buzzed. A message from Barbara.

Jason was excited for Peter. He’d been waiting for Barbara to send the text. He’s also bought Peter a phone the other day and he was wanting to add it to the surprise. 

While he was certain that Peter would be accepted he was still relieved when he got official confirmation. He knew how cooped up Peter had been feeling being in the apartment most of the time, unless he came with Jason to get food or shop. 

On the other hand Jason was a bit scared to let Peter out of the safety of the apartment. He knew how dangerous Gotham was, and how accident prone Peter seemed to be. He also knew that he couldn’t be around to save Peter all of the time.

Peter and Jason were hanging out on the couch, watching some television show Peter didn’t know the name of.

“Peter, wait right here. I’ve got a surprise for you.” Jason scurried off to his room.

Peter was curious as to what it could be. He shifted in his seat. His hand still stung a little but it was mostly healed since this morning. He had to pretend it still hurt though, as much as he trusted Jason, he still was unsure how he’d react to having an “enhanced” or “meta” human in his home.

Jason came back into the room holding a small box, and sat back down next to Peter.

“Congrats on getting accepted to Gotham Prep, Peter!”

Peter’s face lit up. He was going to school. He was going to do something other than hang out at home.

“Seriously?!” Peter was ecstatic. 

“Seriously.” Jason confirmed with a smile on his face.

“Good job, Peter. I am proud of you.” Karen congratulated him

Miles Jr. crawled around in a circle cheerfully.

“Come on, open your gift.” Jason placed the box on the couch between them.

Peter lifted the lid of the box gingerly, trying to pretend that his hand still hurt.

“A phone!?” Peter really didn’t expect to get such an expensive gift.

“Thank you so much Jason!” Peter gave Jason a hug, as best he could.

“I thought you might need one, since you’ll be going to school and making friends.” Jason was glad his gift got such a positive reaction.

Peter put the phone on his leg and started fiddling with it.

“I already put mine and Barbara’s numbers in there, so don’t worry about that.” Jason told Peter.

“I really appreciate this, Jason.” Peter expressed his thanks again. He didn’t deserve Jason. He didn’t deserve to be treated this well after all he did.

Jason and Peter said their good nights and goodbyes, Jason still had to go out and work that night.

Once Jason left, it gave Peter the chance to talk to Karen.

“So, Karen. Can you connect to my phone now?” Peter asked.

“I can, I can upload my data to this device now if you’d like. It will only take a few minutes.” Karen replied.

“Sure.”

It took exactly a few minutes like Karen had said, but now his phone had some new files he could look at, namely the photo albums.

He hesitated for a moment before he clicked on the photos app. 

Once he opened it he couldn’t stop staring. Photos with Aunt May. Ned and MJ. Tony and Pepper. The Avengers. Happy with a grumpy expression ‘babysitting’ Peter and Ned at Coney Island. Photos Peter had secretly taken on his “trip” to Germany, when he was still excited to be a hero. He couldn’t help but stare longer at the photos of Tony, his death was more recent. It stung.

Parker luck, huh. He was convinced the universe wanted him to be alone at this point. He had Jason now though. 

Peter closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Jason and Peter said their good nights and goodbyes, Jason still had to go out and work that night.

Once Jason left, it gave Peter the chance to talk to Karen.

“So, Karen. Can you connect to my phone now?” Peter asked.

“I can, I can upload my data to this device now if you’d like. It will only take a few minutes.” Karen replied.

“Sure.”

It took exactly a few minutes like Karen had said, but now his phone had some new files he could look at, namely the photo albums.

He hesitated for a moment before he clicked on the photos app. 

Once he opened it he couldn’t stop staring. Photos with Aunt May. Ned and MJ. Tony and Pepper. The Avengers. Happy with a grumpy expression ‘babysitting’ Peter and Ned at Coney Island. Photos Peter had secretly taken on his “trip” to Germany, when he was still excited to be a hero. He couldn’t help but stare longer at the photos of Tony, his death was more recent. It stung.

Parker luck, huh. He was convinced the universe wanted him to be alone at this point. He had Jason now though. 

Peter closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Chapter Text

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Jason gasped as he ran around the corner.

He was stupid tonight. He was supposed to be having some one-on-one meeting with a guy who had some intel on a Black Mask drop-off. 

He expected it to be quick, quiet, and simple. He hadn’t even told anyone he’d be patrolling tonight.

What he didn’t expect was for it to be an ambush. He didn’t expect twelve guys to come out shooting.

He managed to get out of there and start running, but not before getting shot in the abdomen. And damn. That hurt. 

 He was feeling dizzy.

He ran and ran, but he was getting faint. He was trying to hold pressure on his stomach but he was losing his strength. His stomach was slick with blood.

He stumbled forward, one last step. Right into the alley leading to his apartment.

He collapsed to the ground with a groan. And all he saw next was black.

Peter woke up, he looked down at his phone. 2:30 AM. Ugh. Why does his body have to pee in the middle of the night? He’s not eighty. Was this how Tony felt?

He went to the bathroom and was about to try and go back to sleep.

CRASH! “Ughhh.” Peter could hear someone fall in the alley. They sounded  very injured, their breathing was heavy. 

Ignore strange noises at night, Peter. Resist the urge to go check.

He could not resist the urge. Maybe it was the little bit of hero left in him, but Peter couldn’t leave someone to die.

He slipped on his shoes and creeped out of the apartment. He didn’t hear anyone else in the alley so he decided to proceed towards the slumped man.

He saw a familiar red masked individual. It was the Red Hood guy that saved him!

Peter definitely had to help him, he checked the man over. He appeared to be  bleeding heavily from the stomach. 

“Hello? Mr. Red Hood?” Peter checked if the man was conscious. There was no response. Peter picked the man up and lifted him over his shoulder, carrying him up to Jason’s apartment.

He laid the man on the kitchen floor. He didn’t think Jason would be happy about blood all over the furniture. 

Peter looked closer at the more serious wound in the man’s stomach. It appeared the bullet was through-and-through, Peter’s favorite. He hated whenever he had to either pull the bullets out or let them expel when he eventually regenerated. It wasn’t pretty. 

Peter mentally apologized to the man before ripping his jacket and vest off. The wound was fairly neat and for that Peter was thankful. Peter quickly ran to grab a first aid kit from his room.

Peter grabbed his phone when he went into his room as well. He should call Jason. 

He kneeled back over the vigilante on the floor. 

“Karen, call Jason please.” Peter said aloud. He could help this guy, but he thought it would be better if Jason came home soon.

“On it.” Karen replied.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

It wasn’t his phone.

It was coming from Red Hood’s pocket.

“No, no, no, no, no.” Peter felt his stomach drop.

He frantically pulled the mask off of the man’s face. It was Jason.

“Oh god, this can’t be happening.” Peter’s heart started beating rapidly.

“Peter, you need to breathe. You are the only one that can help him right now.” Karen spoke calmly to Peter.

Get it together, Parker. Jason needs you.

Peter knows Karen is right. He’s gotta be strong, for Jason.

Peter listened to Jason’s breathing, it sounded clear, albeit heavy. That means the bullet didn’t do anything to impact his lungs.

Peter took a deep breath and held pressure on the wound. 

Peter patched Jason up the best he could and laid Jason down in his own bed. 

He was exhausted. Peter laid down next to Jason on the bed holding Jason’s hand in his own.

Tears filled his eyes. 

It was too close. What if Jason didn’t make it back? What if Peter didn’t go and check outside? Peter would be alone again. He didn’t want to be alone again. It was too similar to Ben. 

“He’ll be okay, Peter. You did a good job.” Karen comforted him.

Stupid Parker luck.

Peter cried until he couldn’t stay awake any longer.

God, am I still alive. Jason’s eyes were closed.

Jason recalled the previous nights events, meet-up gone wrong, ambush, got shot, passed out in an alley.

He definitely felt like he’d been shot. But he didn’t feel like he was laying in an alley. He felt like he was laying in a bed. His bed. 

He slowly opened his eyes. He was in his room. How did he get here? He went to lift his hand and noticed it was being held by something. Someone? 

Oh. Peter.

Peter was laying on the bed next to him, holding his hand. Peter was covered in blood. Jason panicked for a moment before realizing it was his blood. Peter’s eyes were puffy, red, and shut tight. 

Jason looked down at his wound, and saw that it was clean, and bandaged. Peter must have done it. Jason felt horrible, both physically and mentally. He wished that he had called anybody else for help before he passed out. He can’t believe he traumatized poor Peter. 

What if he had died in front of him? That would have haunted Peter forever.

Jason sighed, and reached out with his other hand to brush Peter’s hair out of his face.

Peter jolted at the touch and opened his eyes.

“Hey, Pete. I’m so sorry,” Jason started.

Peter gripped Jason’s hand tighter. “I-I thought you were going to die! I was s-so scared, I don’t want to be alone again. Please, you can’t die Jason!” Peter cried.

“I’m so sorry Peter, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have let that happen.” Jason would be lying if he said he wasn’t tearing up himself.

They sat like that for a while. Peter stared and stared at him, making sure he was really alive. 

Jason attempted to sit up and Peter shut that down quickly, saying he needed to rest and that Peter would take care of him. He knew he wasn’t going to be very useful for the next few days, but Peter shouldn’t have to do it. His hand was still injured.

Jason decided to send a message he never wanted to send.

Peter brought Jason a glass of water. 

“Peter, can you sit down for a minute?” Jason needed to talk to Peter.

“Yeah, sure, are you okay?” Peter worried.

“I’m alright, thanks to you. I’m assuming you saw the mask?” Jason was referring to his “Red Hood.”

“Yeah,” Peter blushed, “I kinda feel stupid, you took me to Batburger and I literally saw over half your face. Even your hair! Not a lot of people have a white streak in their hair. I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out.” Peter grumbled.

“You’re not mad?” Jason thought Peter would be offended that Jason had been keeping this secret from him for so long.

“Of course not! It’s your business, why would I be mad?” Peter seemed genuinely confused. What Jason didn’t know is that Peter understood him better than anyone on the subject of secret identities. 

“I thought you’d be upset that I hid the truth from you. I do trust you, I didn’t want you to think I didn’t.” Jason smiled sheepishly.

“I’m only mad that you got hurt and I could've been alone again.” Peter frowned.

“Again, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put you through that. I promise it won’t happen again.” Jason said seriously.

“How’d it happen? What can you do so that it doesn’t happen again.” 

“I was stupid. I thought I could handle a meeting alone, and it was an ambush instead. I should’ve asked for someone to hang around the area, and when I got away I should have called for backup.” Jason really has thought about what went wrong. 

“That’s a good enough answer, I guess.” If Peter could cross his arms right now he would be doing just that.

“I hope so.” Jason laughed.

“I have something else to say, before you go do whatever it was you were doing.” Jason sat further up on his pillow.

“What is it?”

“My brother, Dick, is coming over for a few days. I don’t want you to have to do everything by yourself, besides you start school on Monday so someone will be here when you’re gone.”

“Does he really go by ‘Dick’” Peter grimaced.

“That’s what you took away from that sentence? And, yes, he did choose to be called that. Don’t worry, I think you’ll like him.”

Peter shrugged. “If you say so.”

Bzzt. Bzzt. Dick looked down at his phone.

Jason asked for help. And he wanted him to meet Peter! It’s a Christmas miracle! Dick was a little worried as to what could have caused an injury that would make Jason ask for help. He was usually pretty stubborn. Maybe he grew soft with Peter around?

Dick had already planned to be in Gotham in Bruce’s absence. Blüdhaven wasn’t in as bad of a state crime-wise, and could handle a month without Nightwing.

He got into his car and began the drive to Gotham.