Chapter Text

jason closed the door behind him, sighing as he took his helmet off and tossed it aside without a care in the world on where it'd end up—he'd worry about that tomorrow night.

he threw his clothes to the side before getting in the shower, feeling that instant relief as he washed the sweat and blood off of himself, the warm water also helping relieve the tension in his muscles.

it was a rough patrol night.

it felt like the crime doubled somehow, the city was practically on fire—he was overwhelmed working in park row alone.

he swore nothing would take him out his apartment for the rest of the night, throwing on some sweatpants and a sweater before crashing on the couch.

he groaned as the comfort of his sofa settled in, a prolonged sigh following as he closed his eyes. he could sleep right here—but the licking sensation on his arm followed by a heavy huff causes his eyes to flutter back open before smiling.

"hey girl," he mumbled, his strained voice reflecting on his drained energy. he started petting his dog, her letting out a satisfied sigh as she leaned into the touch. "i hope you didn't miss me too much."

she let out a protesting noise, jumping onto the sofa with jason before cuddling up beside him, laying under his arm. "yeah, this works too, i guess."

just as he felt as he was dozing off, that's when he heard it—though faint, he heard as his emergency phone went off. it caused dog to immediately perk up alert, letting out a low growl as a warning.

this emergency phone is the phone that he'd given to the batfamily, only for when they absolutely needed him, if the rest of them weren't enough. mostly, it'd be damian calling for something non-urgent, or dick simply trying to check in—but even then, it'd rarely ever be called.

jason had always been the outcast in the family, and he'd eventually stepped back, deciding he didn't need them. it only took a few weeks of radio silence for dick to become worried and track jason down, begging him for some way of contacting him, bringing in the concept of the phone.

but besides that? he's been on his own for a few months now, and he's not only been making it work, but he's been enjoying it.

jason couldn't be bothered to get up, so he just closed his eyes until the noise came to a stop. his cell did eventually stop ringing, just for it to go off again.

this couldn't have been one of damian's regular asks for something that he could've just shown up at his apartment for, even less just dick asking what he'd had for dinner—they never call twice.

jason frustratingly got up, forcing his eyes open as he made it to the kitchen counter and picked up the phone. when the screen turned on, he saw that it actually was dick, to his surprise. he hesitantly picked up, putting the phone on speaker.

"he—"

"jason? oh, thank god," his voice was merely a whisper, though filled with obvious concern. jason's face was slowly colored with equal amounts of worry, not used to hearing dick me so desparate for help.

"dick, are you good?" jason replied, completely confused—upon hearing the voice on the other end, dog calmed down, her ears perking up as she recognized it. "uhh—" dick paused briefly, clearing his throat. "yeah, i'm fine—but i have someone with me who isn't."

".. um, okay? who got turned inside-out this time?" jason took the phone off speaker before putting it up to his ear. what he really wanted to say was, 'okay, what does this have to do with me?' but he stopped himself before he could.

"no, not one of us—it's this kid i found, bleeding out on a roof—well, not really a kid, he looks to be a little older than tim, probably your age," jason sighed loudly, rolling his eyes—even though dick wasn't there to see it, he could just sense the annoyance. "okay, i know how this sounds. i took him to—"

"oh, you have him? well, sounds like you have it under control. i'll be hanging up now—"

"wait!" dick slightly raised his voice. there was a small silence before jason responded, already over the conversation—"what is it, dick?"

the one on the other end sighed. "there's .. a reason why i'm calling you, it's not like i wanted to bother you with this, but i don't think anyone else can help me here," jason was quiet, thinking. he couldn't think of anything he'd need jason for specifically, when normally when it's the worst case scenario, he calls daddy bruce for his help. why him this time? "just .."

he took a deep breath. "i'm in blüdhaven, you know where i live. show if you want, but if it's that much of an inconvenience, don't bother." he didn't wait for jason to give a response before hanging up.

he watched as his phone went from the call screen to his homescreen, confliction brewing in his mind. while every muscle and bone in his body wanted to fall back onto that couch, he couldn't help but think that if dick called him of all people at his disposal, there had to be a good enough reason why.

right?

he decided to get the answer himself, throwing on a jacket and some shoes before heading out the door.

"i'm sorry, dog—i'll be with you all day tomorrow, i promise."

it didn't take more than two seconds after knocking for dick to open the door, still in his nightwing costume with relief seen in what was visible of his face. "you came."

"well, you did call," jason glanced over dick's shoulder. "where's the damage?"

dick let him in, closing the door behind him before leading jason to the boy, his shirt tossed to the side with bandages wrapped all over his torso. he was laying on his couch (dick not caring if he bleeds on his cushions, for some reason), eyes closed, terrifyingly still and pale. his bandages are covered in blood, presumably his own. ".. you sure he's not dead?"

"positive," he almost immediately responds. "that's the reason i can't call anyone, bruce especially."

jason shoots a look at him, confused. ".. do you want me to kill him?" dick returned his look, "what? no!"

he pinched his nose. "okay, look—i'm on patrol, kicking double the ass tonight. i get on some roof to reset, then i hear this loud crash. i turn around, and its just this guy surrounded by a bunch of metal," dick is talking with his hands as well as his voice, jason completely lost—he's talking so fast yet quietly that his brother could hardly keep up. "i check him out, he looks like he got into a fight with prime l.o.a. damian; cuts and gashes all over him, including a stab with an actual exit wound that i'm almost certain ripped right through his liver and kidney."

dick sounds absolutely insane. if what he's saying is true, the person sleeping tol soundly on his couch should've died on that roof. "point is, the last person he saw definitely wanted him dead—"

"but he's not," dick slowly nodded, gesturing for him to get close to the unconscious boy. "lift the bandages on his right abdomen," jason knelt down and did so, and he was greeted with a huge hole in his body; it wasn't in a shape to where it'd imply he was stabbed with a sword or knife—maybe a large spike of some kind … did this guy get beat with a mace?

"that's where he was impaled completely through," dick mumbled, jason still assessing the injury. "when i found him, i could literally see inside of him."

"and you didn't take him to a hospital why?" jason looked back up at dick, finally asking the heavily anticipated question—"he practically screamed at me to not take him to a hospital."

"why did you listen? are we seeing the same shit? he could die—"

"i thought he asked me not to because he's undocumented or something—and given the state of his body, police would have to get involved. i didn't want to risk it," dick started. before jason could speak again, dick kept talking.

"i was going to call bruce, take him to the manor—but that's when i saw it—" dick glanced at the stranger, his eyes widening before pointing—"look, look at the stab!"

jason looked back at the beat up boy and watched as the hole in his abdomen started almost moving—closing. it was very slow, but noticable—inhuman.

"that's not something a regular person can do." dick said, lowering the bandage again. "that's why i didn't take him to bruce, you already know how he is about outsiders—now imagine an outsider who happens to be a meta popping up at his front door. he'd freak."

jason finally started to understand—the second bruce witnessed this man regenerate wounds that would require stitches—hell, ruptured organs in real time—he'd take that blood sample and run countless tests until he gets answers.

jason bit his lip. "and you didn't ask anyone else in the family?"

"everyone else is in regular contact with bruce, some of us living in the manor still," dick added, jason not really being able to argue with that. "and while i dont live in gotham, you know bruce has a habit of showing up unannounced."

"and non-bats?"

"on missions, have families, also in regular contact with bruce, or would just flat out say no." he wanted to ask why he didn't leave him up there, but then thought about what could've happened if the wrong person found him instead of dick. jason let out an exasperated sigh, bowing his head in defeat. he knew what was coming, though dick was dreading asking, knowing that even with everything laid out on the table that there was a good chance jason would still say no.

"you don't have to keep him around forever, just until he heals up and can go back to wherever he came from," jason gets up and folds his arms across his chest. dick shifts his weight nervously. "no pressure, but you are my only reliable option here."

jason gives him an unimpressed look before rolling his eyes again. "fine, but you owe me." dick closes his eyes, letting out a breath he didn't even notice he was holding in until then. "of course, yeah sure—thank you jason, seriously."

jason hummed knowingly, slowly picking up the boy and carrying him down to his bike, tying his hands together in front of him with the sleeves of his jacket so he could still 'hold on' to jason. "get back safe!" dick yelled from the window of his apartment, jason sarcastically calling back out, "will do."

— wake up, peter.

.. what?

when peter's mind registered that he was awake, his senses immediately activated, the spider immediately shooting up from where he was laying, taking a deep breath. he looked around—this wasn't his apartment.

when he looked out the small bit of uncovered window, he realized there was a fat chance this was even new york.

immediately after the harsh motion, he felt the excruciating pain all around his body, wincing and clutching his side, shutting his eyes tightly as he took a sharp breath. he couldn't remember how he'd gotten hurt, as much as he tried—

— not yet.

there it was again; a voice, almost a whisper, echoing in his head—he tried to brush it off, focusing on remembering how he got here, maybe even try to think about where here even could be.

"you should lay back down—i get that you heal fast, but i just cleaned your wound around thirty minutes ago. relax." he heard a voice, this time from someone in the room with him. his head snapped into the direction of where it came from, and there he saw the source—a tall man built like a brick wall, back turned toward peter as he was doing something on the kitchen counter. baggy tee and sweats, his arms scarred.

peter didn't recognize this person—

and even worse, they took note of his abilities.

"and who are you?" he finally spoke. the figure turned around, giving peter a good look of his freckled face, also scarred, some white strands of hair sprouting at the front of his hairline.

"i feel like i should be asking you that," he bit back, arms crossed as he leaned on the counter behind him. his face was serious—he scanned peter as he sat up on his couch, the bruises he saw in the previous night having faded from his face, revealing his features in full. "let's start with names, yeah?"

peter blinked. though deadpan, he was calm—his shoulders were relaxed, his posture indicated he was comfortable (given, he is in his home .. and has a lot of guns), and he has yet to threaten peter—all things that gave him some peace of mind. "i'm .. parker."

the man squinted before digging in his pocket—"i would've preferred the first name," he took out a card before flicking it in his direction, peter catching it—his new york state id. "peter—but at least you gave me a half-truth instead of a whole lie."

peter looked like a deer in headlights, looking at his id then back up at the stranger. "jason."

"well, jason—where am i?"

"nope! i'm asking the questions, thank you," he unfolded his arms, tilting his head as he put another hand in his pocket. what else could he have had on him? money? student id?

oh god—what if he was wearing his suit? what if he has his mask?

peter just wanted to shrivel up and die.

"according to my brother, you just appeared on a rooftop in a bunch of metal on the brink of death—what's that about?" peter looked at him before looking at the floor, desperately thinking. on a roof? brink of death?

"i .." he kept thinking, but it only made the already painful headache worse. he had to have been in a fight as spider-man, but he can't remember with who and when to save his life—he doesn't even remember what day it was.

".. i don't know."

"so you're an out-of-state amnesiac attempted murder victim," his tone sounded less doubtful, more disappointed. he bowed his head and mumbled something under his breath—what the hell did i agree to?—before tilting his head back up. "have anyone you can call to come get you?"

peter ignored the question, still stuck on his previous statement. jason took note of the genuine, fearful confusion on his face.

"did you say out-of-state?"

jason looked around the room in disbelief. "do you know where you are, peter?"

".. is this not new york?"

there was a brief silence before jason walked over to the window in front of the injured male, pulling the curtains, revealing enough for peter to be able to see out of the window. these buildings, this skyline—all foreign to him. this was definitely not new york.

"you're in gotham." jason gave him a concerned look, peter's face blank and lips parted as he was processing what he was looking at.

— new beginnings.

"i'm in what now?"

"city in new jersey? crime capitol of the world? infamous no man's land?" he closed the blinds, none of the names seeming to ring any bells for the guy a few feet away from him. peter, now even more confused than before, was at a complete loss—no memory of the last forty-eight hours, almost died, ended up in some guy's apartment outside of new york somehow and instead at some city he'd never heard of, and also legitimately hearing voices in his head—"what the fuck is going on?"

oh no, jason thought—he's absolutely lost it.

"hey, relax—"

"don't tell me to relax!" peter yelled, almost at the verge of tears. hands on his head, he leaned back in the sofa. he covered his face, trying to make sense of anything—but how does one make sense of anything about this?

— you will understand in time.

peter let out a vexed sigh, hunching over like a wilted flower. he heard footsteps approaching him, though relied on his senses to notify him of any danger—they didn't pick up on any threats. he felt as the cushion dipped next to him, jason sitting down as well.

"look, i don't know what's going on, but you're lucky to have survived," he said, low but indifferent, sounding as if this isn't the weirdest thing he's seen. peter runs a hand through his hair before turning to face jason who had already been looking at him.

he looked exhausted; dark eye bags, eyes unfocused, top eyelids heavy—had he not slept all night?

had he stayed up making sure peter didn't die in his sleep?

"which, by the way, isn't normal—but i feel like you know that already." jason leaned back in the sofa, crossing his arms. ah, the dreaded topic—peter immediately jumped to thinking of ways he could explain it, before ultimately coming to the conclusion that there is no way to without dropping the bomb that he has powers.

the best thing he could do was remain brief.

"so you regenerate. is it the sun? accelerated biology? drugs—" peter physically recoiled. "i don't do drugs, man."

"so the other two didn't faze you?" jason tilted his head, peter sighing. "so you are a meta."

"a meta?"

".. yeah? someone with superhuman capabilities? a meta-human?" peter didn't appreciate his tone, making his disapproval apparent in his expression. while he was right, he'd never heard that term before—he'd heard mutant, superhuman—meta?

"okay, first of all," peter crossed his arms as well, gaze fixed on jason, who remained unaffected by the change of demeanor. "don't talk to me like i'm stupid. i have memory loss, not lack of comprehension skills."

"second—where i'm from, we don't say that, which is why i'm confused." peter shrugged, shaking his head. "is it just a 'gotham' thing?"

"my mistake, stranger," jason rested his hands, sitting back up against the armrest. "but please, less of the sass? unless you want me to match that energy, of course." peter closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "yep. sure."

"lovely!" jason sarcastically exclaimed. "you lost me, though—'where you're from'? meta is a global term."

okay, peter— think .

this isn't the weirdest thing you've gone through; you've literally been snapped out of existence and came back to life to defeat a big purple alien on another planet. you have also saved the world from a symbiotic army with your spider-pupil best friend. you've been in strange's mirror dimension and temporarily trapped him in there, and you have seen versions of yourself from other universes—this can't be too far off.

— warmer.

what?

— but it's too early to know. stop thinking.

peter's mouth opened, but stopped himself from audibly replying to a voice that wasn't real—it's not real. it's nothing—block it out. peter furrowed his eyebrows, glancing at jason before letting his eyes roam, thinking of what to say.

".. are you sure you're not on something?"

"i will do a drug test if you don't believe me." peter sighed, completely frustrated and no less confused. he dragged a hand down his face, biting his lip as he continued to think—yet nothing came of it.

.. ah, screw it. if he sticks around, the time will come when he can be honest.

"maybe i'm just blocking it out my memory, i guess." the statement coming out breathy, jason not quite buying it but not prying for another response either. peter stretched, alleviating some of the tension in his body, though jason growing alarmed.

"are you insane? you're going to rip your wounds right back open—" jason mindlessly reached for peter's bandages with one hand and used his other to push him up against the back of the sofa, keeping him in place. "what are you—"

as he undid the bandages and pulled them away, he expected the previously nearly healed hole in his side to be back to where it was when he saw him at dick's place, but instead he found that the site was entirely clear—not even a scar in sight.

it's as if he never got hurt in the first place.

jason looked down puzzled then back up at peter, stunned and displeased. ".. regenerative abilities, remember?" he said as he grabbed jason's wrist, moving his hand off his chest. he got up, pulling his torn and blood-stained shirt back down. jason awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, mentally slapping himself. "right. sorry."

"not holding it against you—if anything, this is calm for when people first find out," jason also gets up and makes his way towards the kitchen, peter turning around, keeping his eyes on him. he looks around the space—it looks fairly normal, peter not finding anything to be out of the ordinary. "which makes me wonder what type of weird shit you've seen to where you're so indifferent."

jason bit his lip, back turned towards peter as he fixed up some bowls of cereal for the both of them. sure, peter was already skeptical, but that didn't give him a reason to go, 'oh, yeah! my family is actually filled with crime-fighting vigilantes and we go out at night to beat up bad guys, and i've also died and come back to life when i was fifteen!'

"i live in gotham, sweetheart—a typical tuesday ranges from domestic terrorist attacks to flying aliens that can shoot lasers out of their eyes." a complete truth, just selective honesty.

peter stood there, stunned as to how he said it as if it was nothing. he was either lying or he'd somehow woken up in hell.

jason turns around revealing two cereal bowls. "i hope you like cheerios," he said, approaching the small dinner table in front of the kitchen counter. "come eat, you need it."

peter looked at him blankly before going and sitting down across from him. they relatively ate in silence, the awkwardness killing peter inside.

he wanted to say something—anything—but the reality of being exposed as a mutant—meta—outside of his spider-man costume wasn't leaving his mind anytime soon. it didn't help that it wasn't even jason who found him, it was his brother, meaning someone else was in the know, too.

"so," peter swallowed. "did your brother find me here? in gotham?"

"no," jason was quick to respond. "you were in blüdhaven."

he glanced up at jason at the response, just to find that he was already looking at him—watching him for his reaction.

"i was where?" peter questioned in uncertainty, jason's body slouching over slightly as he sighed. he set down his spoon, leaning back in his chair, now growing frustrated. "okay, what major cities are you aware of?"

peter dropped his spoon in his bowl. "who names a city in america fucking blüdhaven?!"

"metropolis, washington d.c., star city, chicago—any of those ring a bell?" jason said, ignoring him. peter rolled his eyes, the taller boy's tone starting to bother him again.

"d.c. and chicago—that's all i got. i am convinced you made the other two up, along with this 'blüdhaven' you're talking about," peter adding in the air-quotes to the name. "sounds to me that you're taking advantage of the fact i have almost complete memory loss."

except peter knows these places aren't real—at least not in his world.

— don't push too hard.

jason rolled his eyes, biting his lip as to keep his composure.

"you know what," jason said, his voice now calmer. "since you're all healed, i could get you a bus ticket to head back to new york if you want—given you had no money or card on you, and it wouldn't do good on my conscience if i just dumped you on these streets."

peter chewed on his cheek as jason took another bite of his cereal.

— generous, isn't he?

".. about that."

jason hummed, tilting his head up as he was still chewing. peter took a deep breath, dragging a hand down his face as he braced himself for where this conversation was headed.

"i don't have an apartment in new york, not anymore, at least." peter mumbled. there was silence that filled the air between them, jason conflicted while peter was desperate. unfortunately for him, he needed jason's help, especially now knowing his predicament—if he could become someone that he could rely on even slightly, that'd be a big help until he could eventually go back to his earth.

however, jason wanted nothing more to do with this situation. he's already housing a stranger that happens to have powers, while he's just a regular guy with guns and people issues. he's been doing just fine with it just being him and dog with the occasional visit from one of the bats, he didn't need .. whatever this is. he was already put off by this guy's selective memory loss, he wanted no part in anything further.

.. but he feels like an asshole if he just kicks him out after having barely survived an attack, almost completely 'lost' his memory, and now finding out that he's homeless.

jason finishes his cereal, peter awkwardly sitting their, neither of them saying anything. he sets his spoon down, looks peter dead in the eyes.

"give me reasons why i should let you stay and i'll think about it."

that set peter off, the boy talking his head off on why he'd be a good roommate and has been a good roommate before, the reasons mostly being basic things such as doing laundry, cleaning up after them, doing the dishes—the bare minimum, essentially. jason pursed his lips, the gears in his head turning.

"are you good with animals?" he asked, peter nodding. "i'm more of a dog person, but cats are cool too. my ex had like, five," peter continued to ramble, jason letting him.

"i could take them on walks and feed them too, and you know, help out and such. i'm also really good with doing groceries, as long as there's a list, though—my memory when it comes to that stuff kinda sucks. and if you're vegan or something that's totally fine, too, i'll just keep the animal products out of your vision and—hey why aren't you saying anything?" peter didn't realize he was pacing around the kitchen with bowl and spoon in hand until he closed his mouth and realized jason was farther than he'd remembered. he scratched his head, dying of embarrassment.

peter could've sworn he'd seen jason's lip twitch, a smile threatening to make it out onto his face, maybe suppressing a laugh.

".. okay, i'm convinced," he sits back up in his chair. "but you need a job so we can split the rent. if you fall short on your word, you're out, got it?" peter nodded, "yep! of course." he finished his cereal before already starting to do the dishes. jason dropping his bowl in the sink, slightly amused.

he can't help but wonder where this decision will get them.

Chapter Text

"hey girl," jason knelt down, approaching damian, titus and dog, giving the two pets headscratches and love while damian stood and waited. jason looked up, "thank you, damian."

"you are lucky that i enjoy the company of animals, akhi—this dogsitting request was very short notice." damian handed jason dog's leash, jason taking the leash as he stood back up.

after placing peter on his couch, he took dog out and dropped her off at the manor—he didn't have to worry about running into bruce, given batman was likely working overtime that night.

he just told alfred that he'd dropped dog off for damian, that he wants her back tomorrow—bringing us here. "yeah, sorry about that."

"ready to go home?" dog was sniffing jason excessively, picking up a new scent on him as he spoke to her. she wagged her tail and panted before running circles around jason impatiently. before he could walk away, damian stopped him.

"father asked me to tell you about the family dinner this weekend," damian said flatly. he and jason had done this before, it almost always ending in jason turning him down. "we would like to have you there, him especially."

"yeah, well tell him to not get his hopes up," he kneels down to pet dog again. putting his personal feelings aside, he has to make sure peter isn't playing him like a fiddle, and the only way to do that is by watching him like a hawk—he doesn't have the energy to do a family dinner. "i'm busy."

"with what?"

"classified, dami." jason stood up, dusting some of the dog hairs off him. "everything about you is classified, i don't even know why i asked."

jason laughed lightly, "i'm glad you're aware. you know how to reach me—see you." he turned, giving a light wave to the younger boy as he walked away. hopefully peter was awake, so dog wouldn't catch him by surprise.

the walk back to the apartment felt strange. jason's thoughts were occupied by what the hell could be going on with peter; could he be an alien himself? some secret agent, or something? a cop looking for red hood?

too many questions with so little to work with.

— wake up.

peter heard the faint voice as the doorknob rattled, his mind instantly obeying. he rose from the pull-out couch this time, relying on his senses to help him out here.

he detected no danger, further confirmed by the muffled sound of yesterday's familiar voice at the other side of the door.

"dog, behave."

he slowly got up from the couch, stretching before rubbing his eyes. he heard the door open and a set of heavy and lighter footsteps, the lighter ones speeding up after a moment of being in the apartment.

"dog, no!—"

before he could process what was happening, peter gets put right on his back again by the unrelenting force of a pit bull. "ack! what the—"

shes on top of him, licking his face and sniffing, peter laughing at the ticklish feeling—though, the feeling of the slobber left behind was enough to want her off him. "what happened to hello?!"

— funny for you to say, given your entrance.

jason was quick to pull dog off peter. "okay, bad girl," he put her down, dog tilting her head at the words as she sat down next to peter. jason looked at him and lightly smiled. "she has no concept of personal space."

"i can tell," peter sits up, wiping his face slightly. "can you lead me to your bathroom?"

jason hums, signaling for peter to follow him. he opens the bathroom door and opens the cabinet under the sink, revealing a box of new toothbrushes. "brush your teeth while you're here, too," he gets up and heads to the door. "you can also shower. i'll bring you some clothes."

"you think those'll even fit me?" peter playfully scoffs, jason doubtfully looking at peter. "oh, absolutely not," he leans on the doorway, shrugging. "but i'd rather have you struggle with baggy clothes until we get you ones your size than walk around my apartment either naked or in .. that." he waves his hand around, gesturing towards his bloodied and ripped clothes from the other night.

"good point." peter starts to wash his face before going in to brush. jason gives him another good look before turning around. "don't break anything."

"i wasn't—" jason shut the door, peter rolling his eyes. "going to."

peter rinses off the soap from his face, moving his attention to brushing his teeth.

"asshole."

jason grabbed his phone, moving on to text dick who'd already been asking for updates on the guy. jason took a deep breath, opening the messaging app.

Today, 7:42 AM

Dick

little wing

text me back about the situation when you can

Today, 10:23AM

Dick

did he kill you or something??

where are you????

Jason

I just got Dog back from Damian, so I'm very much alive

I left the guy at my place to rest

Dick

you left him in your place alone????

Jason

I was out for like 15 minutes max

He was asleep until me and Dog got back its fine

Dick

.. right

anyways

fill me in

Jason

Okay, so

he admits to be a meta, not like he could deny it after being caught red-handed

Dick

figured as much

Jason

But wait

it gets weirder.

Dick

you dont say.

Jason

He had his ID on him, don't know how you didn't catch it

Dick

well i didnt catch it because i don't think to look through a dying person's pockets

unlike some of us apparently

Jason

I don't either

I just look through unconscious people's stuff to see who I'm dealing with

Dick

you're unbelievable.

Jason

Anyways

Peter Benjamin Parker

the guy's from New York. 22, organ donor

Dick

organ donor?

could be why he was attacked

Jason

Also what I was thinking

the guy also happens to be homeless so his stay is extended until he can get his own place

Dick

aw, how sweet

is that all you got?

Jason

he couldn't give me much else to work with

think you can look him up on the New York database?

Dick

wdym couldn't?

Jason

Severe amnesia

or had his memory wiped by whoever did this to him

or he's a damn lie. Only time will tell

Dick

hmm

okay it just gets weirder

nice!

is he recovered?

Jason

Completely healed up by dawn.

Shit's crazy

not the sun so he's likely not Kryptonian

don't think he's a speedster or else he would've definitely left by now

Dick

DAWN?

and he went back to sleep?

Jason

Had breakfast then he crashed on my couch again

says his regeneration is a "sleep it off" situation

Dick

okay

you're losing me

what is the timeline??

Jason

I drop him off, get him comfortable, then immediately get Dog and drop her off at the manor so she can't break this guy's ribs the second she sees him — 1:30 AM

He wakes up, we have breakfast shortly after i question him a bit — like around 6:10 AM

he went back to sleep — 6:20 AM

I go to the dog park to meet Dami and get Dog — 10:00 AM

come back, Dog breaks his ribs anyway — 10:15 AM

I text you — now

Jason

Makes sense?

Dick

.. sure

you never fail to surprise me

Jason

My entire existence is a surprise

not sure how you're not used to it by now.

Dick

don't need to remind me little wing

anywhoo i'll look and let you know what i find

for now just be normal

or something

Jason

Yep

thanks

Dick

oh

and send me a picture of him

facial recognition just in case nothing comes up for name

Jason

Okay

Dick

text you later 😼

Jason

🤨

Jason

Okay

jason snapped a quick picture of peter's id photo before he turned his phone off, putting it in his pocket before stretching. had he slept? no—not since having this stranger in his home.

if we set aside peter's obvious meta capabilities as well as the memory loss, his personality from what jason has seen is decently normal—though it seemed like he was almost dealing with richard grayson jr. with the way that peter just won't stop talking once he starts.

but as long as he did as he promised and also didn't try to kill anyone, he didn't care.

while he asked dick to do some of the heaver investigating, jason had gone through social medias to see if he could find any peter benjamin parkers—instagram, facebook, twitter—but no one who even resembled this peter came up.

it was dead end after dead end.

maybe he just doesn't use socials, jason thought, though hard to believe—then again, his accounts weren't public or under his name—maybe peter was the same?

and if he was, was it because he values his privacy?

or for some other reason?

jason's thoughts were interrupted by the doorknob turning, peter peeking his head out the bathroom and into the hall, jason turning to look at him. "the clothes?"

"door across from you, they're laid out on the bed." jason turns back around, peter immediately walking to the other side of the hall and opening the door to what ended up being jason's room, the clothes on the bed as promised.

peter noticed a couple stacks of books, some he's even read himself—judging jason's outward appearance, peter wouldn't have taken him for a bookworm—let alone to be the type to enjoy pride and prejudice.

he had a couple band posters on his wall, along with shelves that held glass cases of collectables, the most common item being .. knives?

peter spotted a sword-shaped letter opener, a gold-embroidered steel butterfly knife, and a red and black karambit?—you know what, everyone has their hobbies, and it's not like jason didn't visually fit the description peter would associate with someone who likes to collect stabby things.

he had a seemingly normal computer and some headphones, under the monitor being a framed family picture: one very big family, in fact—he (obviously) didn't recognize anyone, yet was able to spot jason immediately.

he stood next to an almost equally as tall and built man who had a billion-dollar smile peter's only ever seen on tony. on his other side was another shoryer guy, full black hair with his arm thrown over jason's shoulder, looking like he was mid-laugh when the picture was taken. jason was looking at the guy trying to hold back a laugh himself.

there were too many people in that picture to count.

in front of it was notepad with some unreadable scribbles over it, more notes ripped out of said pad scattered all over his desk.

how can he read this shit? was all peter could think.

"what are you doing in there?" he heard the voice call out from the living room.

— curiosity killed the spider.

peter shook his head as he was snatched out of his nosy trance, going back to getting dressed. "getting dressed, obviously!"

peter threw on the clothes swiftly, the shirt fitting him almost like a dress and the sweatpants' drawstrings being tied tightly around his waist. he walked out the room, hair soaked, using his towel to continue to dry his curls. "i had to figure out a way to make sure these pants don't fall with the first step i take."

jason was on his sofa, watching a show he'd started not too long ago. he paused to look peter up-and-down—"well whatever you did worked," he resumed what he was watching, dog sitting up on the couch as she spotted peter. "this is dog. she's sorry for attacking you this morning."

".. your dog's name .. is—"

"dog, yes." jason finished his thought. dog was panting, showing a toothy smile to peter as she was anticipating his next move. she shuffled around on the sofa, jason sighing as she eventually moved to sit on top of him.

"she wants you to sit on the couch," he glanced at peter, who just shrugged and sat at the other end of the sofa. the pit bull rushed over and roamed between both sides of the boy, sniffing him until she was satisfied. "she likes you."

"i'm glad—is she normally this .. untrustworthy?" peter's still, letting dog conduct her investigation. jason scoffs, "she's just curious, she's never seen you before." he replied, his attention on the television. dog eventually stopped sniffing him, licking his hand once as a sign of peace before she went back to jason and rested her head on his lap, his hand automatically going to pet her as if it were instinct.

"so," jason started, pausing the show. "now that you're here, i have more questions."

"of course you do," peter sighed, rolling his eyes. he folded his arms across his chest, returning jason's skeptical gaze. "ask away."

jason didn't hold back, and surprisingly to him, peter was an open book—at least to the things he had answers to.

"no license?"

"like, seventy-percent of new york doesn't drive."

— true.

"fair. last thing you remember?"

"what i had for breakfast yesterday."

— six pancakes and several strips of bacon.

".. do you remember doing anything with metal?"

"no?" peter pondered over this a bit—if he really was in a battle as spider-man, the metal could've came from whoever he was fighting.

problem is that there's only handful of people he could've been righting that involve some kind of metal in their weaponry.

"have a job you work or worked at?"

— worked. i'm sure the emily-may foundation will survive without you.

"rude," peter mumbled under his breath, accidentally responding to the voice in his head. maybe he was losing it.

"what'd you say?"

"freelance photographer."

"show me some of your work?"

"i would, but," peter patted his non-existent pockets. "don't have my phone or camera."

"forgot about that," jason mumbled. he took a deep breath, confliction making its way to his head once again. he's usually very good at reading people, but right now? he doesn't know whether to trust his gut or his instincts. "and just to make sure, you're doubling down on everything you told me earlier this morning?"

"everything." peter confirmed. if he was on drugs, they'd be out his system by now—jason no longer knew what to think. the son of the world's greatest detective was officially stumped.

"gears in your head are turning. still unsure about me?"

".. if you were from arkham, you would've definitely killed me by now, especially since i know you're a meta," he stares at his television as he speaks, subconsciously petting dog to help ground himself as he feels like he's at the brink of losing his mind.

"same thing if you were some cracked-out crime alley resident, a meta who faked their death, an alien .. i've got absolutely nothing. i genuinely don't know what to think."

"now imagine living as the person who also doesn't know what the hell is going on!" peter threw his hands up into the air, nearly hysterical.

— don't rush things. you're in good hands.

"and what the fuck is—" he raised his voice in response to the voice, nearing his limit. he sighed, covering his face in embarrassment as jason sat there, slightly taken aback by peter's sudden outburst. "i'm sorry, i'm just—oh my god this is so—"

"hey, you're fine." jason was quick to reassure him, peter laying on his side on the sofa now. he wanted to cry—no, scream—what was he supposed to do?

after the erasure he was able to re-invent himself, even ending up mentoring another spider—miles—and oh, just as he thought he was done dealing with aliens, here comes the symbiote almost taking over the entirety of new york.

and now, when it's supposed to be the calm after the damn storm, he gets thrown out his universe with developing schizophrenia.

seriously, can he ever catch a break?

— you're not schizophrenic, i'm real, peter.

yeah, sure. i'll believe it when you manifest in my dreams, or something.

— in time you will see.

peter huffed, closing his eyes in defeat. jason was tapping his foot, not knowing how to re-approach the topic after that.

"i think," he speaks anyways. peter doesn't react, but he knows that he's listening. "that for now, i can help you find a job, show you around the city, help you get familiar with the area," he kept going, just now looking at the paused frame of the show on the television. peter hummed, indicating he was listening, just in case jason didn't think he was.

"and we can throw the whole 'who the fuck am i, where the fuck am i, why the fuck am i,' thing on the back burner so we both don't go batshit crazy worrying about it—as long as your intentions arent malicious, of course." jason's frustrated with himself and his way of reacting to this, it being out of emotion rather than logic.

but at the same time, nothing about this is logical. it's like he appeared out of thin air—what else was he supposed to do? dump him in the streets of park row?

well, he could've—but he didn't d9 anything to deserve that, and that also could've put him in more danger as well as everyone else, since he still doesn't know how far peter's meta capabilities go.

so in his head, play house for the time being is the best he can do.

peter wasn't exactly ecstatic about this arrangement, either—he still had to take care of new york, still had to keep the symbiote remnants at bay—he still needed to be spider-man.

but instead, he's stuck as peter parker in another dimension with no way home.

— ha.

he felt like a part of him was dying out without his suit; ever since the erasure, spider-man had been the biggest part of him, not peter parker—he didn't get to be peter parker, not for a long time, anyway.

but what else could he do?

"i'm .. down with that," his words came out breathy and defeated, still unmoving. "when do you plan on dragging me out of here?"

"well, i'm going to sleep soon given i hadn't had the liberty of resting as i had to make sure someone didn't bleed out on my couch," he closed his eyes, the exhaustion he had tried to push to the side finally taking over. "just .. don't touch anything, please. and also don't freak out and run away, because then i'd have to report a runaway meta, and it'll become this whole thing .."

he trailed off as he tilted his head backwards, closing his eyes. he kept petting dog until he was unmoving again, the room growing quiet.

and peter? all he wanted to do was wake up from this nightmare.

— you should sleep too.

and who are you to tell me what i should and shouldn't do?

— the being that saved your life.

sleep.

and as peter felt an unwavering amount of fatigue crash over him, he'd considered that maybe there was something else here with him.

something bigger.

and maybe it wasn't just a voice.

jason woke up as the sun was setting—perfect.

he looked over to his left, and saw that peter had also knocked out in the time jason was asleep.

he heard an unfamiliar buzzing sound, almost like a purr—at first, he thought it was dog snoring, but she had been missing from the couch, probably in jason's room. he slightly leaned over towards peter, the noise getting louder—it was coming from him.

peter was .. snoring? albeit strangely, but maybe he has a deviated septum or something.

none of jason's business.

he slowly got up and walked past the shorter one, who was now sleeping in a near-fetal position, completely out like a light. jason wondered what he's gone through to where he's so tired that he essentially slept through an entire day almost.

he took dog out for a quick walk, coming back to the apartment and mentally preparing himself to patrol.

it's a bad idea, peter's going to rob you. oh my god, jason, do not walk out that door—

he glanced at peter, now noticing how pale he looked, even with the golden sun's light bleeding through the blinds and directly onto him.

he slowly walked over to him and brushed a finger on his cheek to check his temperature—the boy was as cold as a block of ice. absolutely freezing.

yes, it is cold in jason's apartment, it being the end of august and all. autumn had decided to come early.

but he didn't feel it being this bad—maybe peter was more sensitive to the cold.

regardless, he got a blanket and carefully laid it out over the man in his couch, him immediately snuggling up to it in his sleep. how endearing.

he went and got changed into his red hood attire, giving dog one last pet and order before walking out the door.

"guard the house for me, okay?"

jason found that the crime had calmed down from the day before, the night going relatively smoothly. besides petty crime and personal investigations on cases he'd taken on, it was manageable.

after a not-so-great fight between him and an amateur crook, he'd grappled onto a rooftop to catch his breath. he remained hyper-aware of his surroundings, moreso for any lingering criminals and less for anyone he knows.

park row is his domain, and none of the bats interfere in his space unless (rarely) asked—which is why he was surprised to see nightwing show up on his rooftop.

"little wing," he appeared around a corner next to jason, whom instinctively pulled out a gun and aimed it in the direction of the voice. "okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves!"

"you should know better than to sneak up on a guy with three guns," jason holsters his piece, dick sitting beside his brother. it was silent for a bit before jason cleared his throat. "is there a reason you came looking for me? or is blüdhaven that dead tonight that you have nothing else to do?"

dick laughs a bit, "no, there's a reason—it's about our surprise visitor."

jason shifted, glancing at dick who was already looking at him, facial expression entirely unreadable. that gave him a bad feeling.

"right. what do you have?"

dick awkwardly scratched the back of his head. ".. well, nothing."

it was silent after that. you wouldn't be able to tell, but jason was entirely bewildered under his mask. dick let his head go limp, it resting on the wall behind them. "what do you mean nothing?"

"it's like he just appeared, jason!" he whispers, albeit panicked. "the facial recognition software also had zero pulls—"

dick ran a hand through his hair, at almost a complete loss for words. "i even had one of his bloodied bandages and ran his dna, seeing if there would be any matches—nothing, jason. he quite literally doesn't exist."

"but he's sleeping on my couch right now!" jason also whispering, trying not to panic. "he seems pretty damn real, dick!"

"which is why i'm so confused as to why even his blood didn't get me anywhere." dick mumbled, closing his eyes frustratingly—jason was only joking when he said that there was a possibility peter was an alien—but now? now he's pretty convinced.

"he's either an alien or .. some secret second thing," dick shrugs, staring out into the night sky as he thinks. ".. what are the chances that if we ask him if he's an alien that he'll be honest?"

"if you were an alien that crash landed onto earth would you tell anyone? let alone someone you just met that you don't fully trust?"

"good point."

"i know." jason sarcastically says. he lets out an exasperated sigh, not exactly knowing where to go from here. he was already unsure about peter, but this news just made him flat out uncomfortable. he didn't know what to do with him.

"man, why did i agree to help you? i should've known nothing good would come out of this .." he put his head in his hands, still processing that he has a potential alien or creature sleeping in his home! how can he be calm?

jason starts getting up. "what are you doing?"

"i'm going to my apartment," he says, reloading the bullets in his weapons. "and i'm going to pull my gun on this guy and get it to tell me what i don't know."

"okay, let's not do anything stupid—" nightwing also gets up behind him, the red hood turning to face his brother. "we're past that, big wing."

"so you think pulling out a gun on someone who we've seen heal life-ending injuries from simply being asleep is going to be afraid of getting shot? not to mention we don't know what this guy is capable of, meaning that what we do know is just scaping the surface." he folds his arms across his chest in prorest, jason's hands still on his guns.

unfortunately dick is right, and also being the voice of reason. jason was thinking with his emotions, not appreciating being potentially lied to or being taken advantage of.

he lets out a heavy breath through his nose as he holsters his guns again, folding his arms across his chest as well. "so what now?"

dick shrugs. "go along with it for now. i could .. potentially get someone who knows more about the universe to help out with this."

jason's arms drop to his sides, stepping frustratingly as he rolled his eyes. "seriously?"

"give me time, just trust me, jason," dick starts backing up to the ledge, grappler in hand. "you'll hear from me when i have help."

and with that, he grappled away, rooftop to rooftop, leaving jason alone with all this new information (or lack thereof).

go along with it, he says.

give me time, he says.

how is he supposed to just be normal around peter after learning all of that?

is that even is name?

jason scoffs as he shifts his focus back onto the streets below him.

..

he'll worry about being normal in the morning.

Chapter Text

— time to wake up.

it doesn't take more than that for peter's eyes to shoot open, rising from the couch in slight panic.

dog stands up from her lying position next to the couch and puts her paws up on the cushion, checking on peter. she whines, taking jason's attention away from the kitchen counter and to her and peter.

"good morning," he says, idly whisking something in a bowl as he looked at peter. "i'd ask how you slept, but .." he trailed off as he turned back around to tend to his batter. as dog nudged her head against peter's leg, wanting his attention on her instead, he began to pet her, the pit bull smiling in response. "nightmare, i guess?"

— i am not a nightmare, peter.

jason hummed back still turned. "if you don't like pancakes, you'll be eating cereal today again," jason says as he sets the bowl down and lightly butters his pan. peter adjusts his sitting position, feet now touching the floor as he continued to pet the dog at his legs.

"pancakes are fine," peter yawned before stretching, dog running towards jason as he stopped petting her. he stretched, squeezing his eyes shut as the sense of relief showered over him. "i'm gonna .. wash my face."

"go for it."

he splashed water on his face and took a look in the mirror—he hadn't thought about the long-term repercussions all that much when it came to staying here indefinitely. all he's really thought of up to this point is 'who's going to take care of new york while i'm gone?'

— despite you knowing new york will be fine without you.

sure, crime rates might spike after criminals realize the red and blue spider-man is missing, but miles? they tend to forget about him, the original spider's pupil who he'd trained personally—he's equally as much of a force to be reckoned with. a spider-man with bio-electric powers? a spider-man who's able to turn invisible? not to mention that he's left miles to protect new york on his own before.

new york is more than alright without peter.

but besides the lack of documentation and societal footprint, the next thing that had peter feeling alarmed was him realizing and accepting that he was completely alone.

he became an avenger early on, the same year he became spider-man. he was fifteen then, meeting tony at the same time, him becoming a prominent figure in his life since then. in his first years, stark didn't take him on avengers-level missions, having him stick to 'spider-level' threats as for the iron man's request. of course, peter deliberately went against his orders as he intervened when vulture attempted to hijack tony's plane, also taking on criminals like wilson fisk, the lizard, the scorpion ..

he lost his aunt may at the hands of his previous mentor and friend via a domestic bio-terrorist attack, the guilt from feeling like he didn't do enough to stop it earlier still eating him alive from the inside-out, while also having to deal with mister negative, who peter also had trusted and highly respected.

not long after, he found himself with the avengers on another planet fighting a giant purple alien and losing, peter and miles being blipped—somehow peter's then rescued by doctor strange and brought back to the same planet and into the same fight, actually winning this time, but at the sacrifice of the closest person he's had to a father figure.

then soon came the symbiotic take-over, then the cultists, then him—the illusion artist with a fishbowl for a helmet who used his dying breath to reveal his secret identity to the world.

and of course, peter wanted—no, needed his identity to be secret again—so of course he consulted the all-knowing sorcerer.

he asked doctor strange to cast a spell that'd make everyone forget who spider-man was. it seemed to have worked, but as it turns out, the spell ended up backfiring, resulting in not only other spider-men from other universes leaking into his own, but also bringing their villains with them—his first experience with the multiverse.

and the only way to fix it was to cast another spell that'd make everyone forget who peter parker was.

he's lost it all, even his own identity.

he was fortunate enough that it turned out miles was able to remember him, the teenager being the only one with any recollection of a peter parker. they chalked it down to being bit by the same spiders from the same line of oscorp experiments, having created an inseverable connection between them as spider-people—regardless on whether they're right or if it was just dumb luck, they were so relieved things turned out the way they did.

peter would've had a much harder time getting back onto his feet without miles and rio.

even though rio found their story hard to believe, she also witnessed how her city—well, the entire world starting with her city—was almost destroyed by a black and white alien creature and its spawns. at this point, anything was possible.

they helped him re-invent himself as peter parker (albeit not everything being legal, but you gotta do what you gotta do) getting all his documents in order, miles also keeping peter updated on harry, who's still in a coma.

he was finally starting to feel like himself again—be himself again.

and now he's here, completely lost, his life being factory-reset yet again—but this time, he didn't have a miles to help keep him up.

he was entirely alone.

he comes out after re-collecting himself and brushing his teeth, jason already having plated a few pancakes. he hears the door to the bathroom open and close, sparing a quick glance peter's way before tending to the pancakes. "you like syrup with your pancakes?"

"i don't mind it." peter sits down at the dinner table in a slight daze, tapping his foot as he watched jason cook and plate their breakfast. he studied him—his frame was strong, shoulders broad and muscles defined. he wonders how many hours he spends at the gym.

he took note of the mix of freckles and scars scattered around his arms—some big, some small, but all obvious. not to mention the one on his face and another on his neck that he'd only noticed this morning.

the guy screamed big and bad.

"you're staring." peter was surprised to have been caught—does he have eyes behind his head, too?

"sorry, the wall in front of me isn't as interesting anymore." jason takes his spatula and plates the last pancake, turning and placing both plates at the table before heading towards the counter again. "you think i'm interesting? i'm flattered," jason quips, picking a mug for his coffee. "do you drink coffee? or are you more of a tea guy?"

"more interesting than a white wall, yes," peter responds swiftly, "and coffee's fine, i guess."

jason starts the coffee machine and lets it brew. he isn't really a coffee person, he only drinks it if he needs the energy and to be more alert on patrols—in this case, patrol ended later than usual, jason getting only around three hours of sleep.

he puts the syrup in front of peter with a fork and knife, peter starting to eat ahead. jason catches a glimpse of the brunette as he begins to eat, and is instantly reminded of the conversation from last night on that rooftop. he really seems normal until you learn that he's a walking ghost.

he also can't help but wonder who dick was trying to get a hold of, and he hoped and prayed that he didn't result to involving bruce into this. he leaned on the counter, letting his mind wander through what would happen if he did.

his short-lived thoughts were interrupted by the noise of the coffee machine ending its routine, jason pouring their coffees before setting the mugs down, sitting across from peter. he started eating his food, peter nearly done with his pancakes.

"you're staring."

jason hadn't noticed that he really was staring daggers at him until he'd said something. "you eat fast."

"hidden talent," he shrugged, he took his last bite, clearing his throat afterward. "and i have a fast metabolism, so i could eat a few more of these if i wanted to at the same speed."

"most you've eaten in one sitting?"

peter hummed. "i don't know if i'll tell you, you'll judge me." peter blows on his coffee to try to cool it off enough to where it wouldn't burn him, jason scoffing with his mouth full of pancake. he swallows his food before leaning back in his chair. "believe it or not, i don't normally judge people," jason crossed his arms, sitting back up. "unless you're actually a horrible person, then maybe i'll have my personal thoughts about you."

peter smiled slightly. "looks like i'm in the clear." he finds the coffee's temperature well enough to drink, jason shrugging before locking eyes with the man across from him again. "i'll be the judge of that."

peter practically chugged the drink, setting down the empty mug with a light thud. "i'm pretty confident."

jason squinted his eyes, tilting his head in response, tending back to his food. something about their exchanges from this morning felt off for peter—he didn't know whether to trust his senses or not, thinking there's a good chance he's just overthinking it. his emotions are slightly heightened, after all—with everything that's been going on, it's been hard for him to keep his head on straight.

and the most painful piece of evidence of this being this strange voice he keeps hearing.

— i'm not just a voice, peter.

peter clears his throat, taking his attention away from his thoughts and to jason. "what are you thinking?"

jason finishes chewing and swallows his food, thinking his plans over before replying. "i'm taking you to the upper east side, show you some places," he took a sip of his coffee (which ended up being half of what was in the mug), peter taking note of the uncertainty in his tone. "if you like coffee, you'll probably like this read-in cafe along robinson park. good selection of books and pretty good coffee."

"you like reading?" jason's eyebrow twitched as peter asked, a smug smile tugging on the spider's lips. ".. you've been in my room, i'm sure you noticed the books scattered around it—don't pretend like you didn't have an idea."

peter chuckles softly, "they could've been there for decoration, didn't want to jump to conclusions." he shrugged, leaning back in his chair. he crossed his arms, eyebrows tilting in curiosity as he noticed the scar on his neck.

it was a large gash—too large for it to not be intentional.

"you should keep that curiosity in check," jason says, noticing peter's gaze shifting to the aftermath of the batarang from that night. he pauses to finish his coffee before gathering the plates, carrying their utensils and mugs on the plates. "it can bring you problems if you don't."

for some reason, that felt like a threat rather than cautionary advice. peter was quick to remind himself that he is a guest, and he shouldn't stick his nose in places where it doesn't belong—besides, he does still have to figure out what he's going to do so he can merely survive here until he can find a way back to his world.

peter rubbed his eyes, dragging his hands down his face as he sighed. jason tapped his shoulder, peter looking up at him. he stood there with his hand on his hip, his gaze intense as he looked down at peter. "if you don't mind," he glanced behind him towards the sink. "you could start doing the dishes today. i'll do the next cycle."

"right, sure," peter got up, jason stepping aside before heading towards his room. he turns on the sink and picks up the sponge, pouring a small amount of soap before beginning to scrub. as jason turns the knob to his room door, he calls out to peter, "i'll see if i have anything else that you could wear."

you'd think that someone who's main form of transportation involved swinging around the streets of the big apple wouldn't be fazed by the idea of riding on a motorcycle.

— haven't you done this before?

shut up.

"are you okay?" jason's slightly amused at the visibly nervous peter staring at his bike. it's not like he's never been on one—felicia's taken him around on some rides when she had her bike, but the circumstances and unfamiliarity of the area and person he's traveling with gave him a funny feeling in his stomach.

peter clears his throat, scratching his head. he tries to ignore the teasing smile jason's trying to suppress. "yep, fine! it's just been a while .."

"you've ridden on a bike before?" jason sits down, helmet under his arm. he looks at peter, eyes roaming from his feet to the top of his head. "you didn't strike me as the type."

"i'm not," he looks away, slightly embarrassed as he scratches his cheek, covering the bottom half of his face. "my ex is. she dragged me with her sometimes when she wanted to go around the city 'for fun.'"

"and how'd that go?"

"i thought i was going to break her ribs from how tight my hold around her was." jason actually cackled, gesturing for peter to sit behind him. before he did, he put his helmet on the brunette to ease his worries.

"i'm a good driver," he says, peter swallows hard, feeling the regret over agreeing to this all the way down to his bones. as he sat down, he hesitantly grabs onto jason's sweater, trying to be mindful of the strength he's putting into his grip. "you just have to trust me."

"with the way you said that i'm sure you must want me dead." jason laughed again, his hands on the handlebars.

"grabbing onto my clothes isn't enough, parker—actually hold onto me unless you want to fall off." peter sighed, pausing before awkwardly wrapping his arms around jason's waist, the taller one finally beginning to drive.

and thank god he listened to jason when he told him to hold onto him.

they were moving according to speed limit, but peter felt like they were going to take off.

while the spider was an anxious mess, the hood was cracking jokes. he noticed how whenever peter heard the engine rev a bit too loud, or the brakes screeched just a tiny bit louder than normal, that he'd tighten his grip on him instinctively, seemingly convinced that he was going to go flying.

the light teasing started here, jason poking fun at peter whenever he'd get scared.

"how do you expect me to not react when you're playing with my life?!"

"you're still breathing normally, right?"

peter groaned dramatically, jason tapping his helmet playfully. "you'd better get used to it—this city isn't as walkable, so you'll mostly be relying on me to get around."

"i will never be used to this."

"right."

as the light turned green, jason had begun to turn onto another street, but was cut off by an actual irresponsible driver. peter's senses went off, the spider instinctively turning his hold into a hug, sticking onto jason as he fully expected a collision.

on top of the close call, the excessive contact made jason uneasy, instinctively slowing down as a result of him being distracted.

"dumbass," he mumbled under his breath before actually making his turn this time, slower than he'd previously been driving. he tapped peter's helmet again, it not being pressed against him. "still with me back there?"

"yeah, barely," peter's voice was muffled against jason's back, their heartbeats returning to their usual rhythms as jason began to comfortably pick up speed. "are we almost there? i'm tired of fearing for my life."

"i'm almost tempted to take a longer route—"

"don't even think about it."

jason parked his bike, renting the space for a few hours. peter stayed glued to his side, not wanting to lose him in the sea of people around him. he couldn't help but notice that jason's eyes roamed frequently, peter catching glimpses of him looking around the area at times, almost if he was searching for something.

or someone.

while he wasn't panicked or tense, but alert and very aware of his surroundings. peter tried to chalk it up to "gothamite instincts," but part of him felt like he was almost being set up.

and his feeling only got worse when his senses starting going off, too, also trying to warn him that he was being followed.

"are crowds not your thing? isn't new york more congested?" peter flinched at the voice, this one coming from the man walking next to him. he took another look around before looking at jason, who'd already been looking down at him. "new york crowds and gotham crowds seem to be drastically different."

"i'll take your word for it," jason looks ahead again, lightly tugging on peter's arm. "our first stop."

jason took peter around like a puppy on a leash, showing him some places he either frequents or had enjoyed when he went—some places hiring.

he showed him the library, surprisingly peaceful compared to the chaotic streets outside—they also stopped by that cafe jason had mentioned as they passed through the park.

"want to try anything?" he asked peter, who was still slightly on-edge from his constant tingle. he flinched, a surprised 'huh?' escaping his lips as he was brought out of his daze. jason's grew confused and slightly concerned, "okay, it can't be the crowds this time, what's up with you?"

"i'm sorry, i'm just .." peter looked at the taller boy then looked away, over to a distant rooftop. something about it felt .. off, even though he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. somehow that made it more off-putting, him staring at one spot before returning his attention to his guide. "in my head—focusing now! you asked what?"

"if you wanted something," jason reiterated. "i'll get you my regular if you don't know what to pick, though i don't know if coffee is .. good for you right now." peter lightly laughed, shrugging awkwardly.

"if it's no trouble," he scratched his nape. he took one glance at the menu, his face contorting as he struggled to read what was on the board. he squinted his eyes, but the writing just looked like a bunch of squiggles. "okay, so i can't read that. i think i'll settle for your regular."

jason suppressed a laugh, nodding as he approached the front door. "i won't be long. stay put."

peter does as he told, and jason eventually comes back out with a hot chocolate and two huge buttered croissants. peter's eyes practically light up at the sight, and jason can't help but smile at the stranger.

he gave his thanks before digging into his food and drink as they walked, eventually making it to a park bench. the sat and talked, peter sharing some of his food as conversation unrelated to the area came naturally.

although not being an entirely open book, peter shared how he grew up in queens with his aunt and uncle until they both eventually passed, replying with blunt honesty when asked about bis parents. jason shared his condolences, peter appreciative.

jason was also a bit brief as to not trauma dump, keeping it to a "my biological parents couldn't take care of me and i was quickly adopted." peter was surprised to hear this, thinking back to the family picture he'd seen in jason's room the day prior; the similarities between he and who he'd assumed to be his father was uncanny, he couldn't believe it.

"and you're an only child entirely?" jason asked peter, who nodded in response, mouth full of croissant. he hummed before swallowing his food, "yep. just me, may and ben," peter sips on his drink before turning to face jason. "what about you? is the brother you mentioned before your only sibling?"

peter knows the answer, but he wants to see if he's truthful anyway.

jason turns a bit more to face peter, resting his elbow on the backrest of the bench, his chin on his palm. "there's the eldest, my older sister, then me, then the energy drink addict, the scholar, then the youngest, which happens to be the only biological child out of the six of us."

he ended up being honest, which peter appreciated—but damn, one of six siblings? and he was adopted? he looked so much like who peter thought was his dad. "was your dad just collecting you guys like pokemon?" peter broke off and offered a piece of his croissant.

jason scoffed, taking it. "oh, you have no idea. my old man is nuts." he dryly laughed, eating the piece of food he was given. peter hummed, his brain wandering to tony.

for a while, whenever he thought of or heard the word 'dad,' the first person to pop up in his head would be tony, not his biological father—which filled him with so, so much guilt. even though he didn't get to know them, as they died while peter was still very young, he still acknowledged that they were his parents.

but then again, he believes tony was the father he never got to have, that maybe, just maybe, richard brought them together, even if it was just for his late teenage years.

"you have any hobbies or pastimes that aren't sleeping on my couch and zoning out?" he finishes the hot chocolate, giving jason a look. "i have been sleeping a lot, huh?"

"as if you hadn't slept well in days." jason was quick to respond. peter didn't know why or how he was even able to sleep for so long—maybe it's a side effect of being transported to another dimension..?

— sure.

peter shook his head, eyes closed. "well, i like photography, like, a lot. it's probably my main hobby," he goes on, tapping his foot and looking up as he talks. "it got me a job and also helped form memories, which are .. unfortunately lost with my camera." in more ways than one; all of the pictures of peter or that peter had taken prior to the erasure have been long lost and forgotten—and the ones he'd taken afterward? back home.

"what was your living situation before you showed up here?"

peter tugged at his collar. "you already know what i'm comfortable sharing."

jason bit the inside of his cheek—he didn't like that answer, but he didn't want to pry or cause a scene. there was a beat of silence before jason spoke, "i can respect that. anything else you're interested in?"

peter was relieved to hear how quickly they moved on from the topic. he pondered briefly, ".. science and tech? i'd say math too, but it's more 'i'm good at' it than 'i enjoy it,'" now finished with all the food and drink, peter was left fidgeting with the empty cup in his hands. he'd briefly been a science teacher at miles' high school, but of course, that was short-lived. "but for science and tech? i'm good at both."

".. do you have a degree?" jason asked warily. peter nodded his head, "i graduated from empire state university with a bachelors of science in biophysics, though i haven't been able to put it to good use yet," well, had a degree—lord knows he won't have those credentials for a long time. "why?"

"just curious," he was quick to reply. peter hummed in response. "what about you? do you have a degree?" he asked, jason hesitating to respond.

"i didn't get to go to university, although i'd honestly really like to." jason replied, glancing over at peter who was just looking forward, taking in their surroundings. "why's it off the table?"

"you already know what i'm comfortable sharing." the call-back response made peter's head turn back into jason's direction, the boy lightly scoffing as he shrugged, "that's fair."

there was a brief pause as they both looked away from each other, taking in the space around them—the silence was filled with the sound of kids playing in the park and car horns filling the surrounding streets. peter cleared his throat, "well, it'll never be too late to get more education," peter continued. "you seem to be passionate about literature, that's a path to consider, whenever you're ready for it."

"eh," jason sinks into the bench, one arm on the backrest. "i'm already too far behind to catch up now, i'll be alright just figuring things out."

"you're like what, twenty? twenty-one?" peter asked, turning to look at him, jason catching his gaze as he turned as he noticed him shifting. "twenty-two, but continue."

"either way," peter waved his hand. "you're not behind, jason—you're just moving at your own pace. you're not being timed to do this, you know. make that step when it feels right."

the taller one didn't know what to say after that. all he could do was .. give a soft smile, and a short "thank you." peter pat his shoulder, "yeah, no problem, big guy," his touch lingered before he pulled away, folding his arms over his chest.

"i want to learn about you too, you know," peter spoke, jason biting his lip. he thought he could've gotten away with not sharing much about himself, but alas. "what are your interests?"

"well, you already know about me and my books," the taller one mumbled, looking away from the other. "i also spend time working out, and when i'm not doing that i'm probably with dog or sleeping."

"i can tell you like the gym," peter now also looked away, letting himself sink into the bench as well. "you're built like a brick wall—seriously, you look like a professional fighter."

peter managed to drag a genuine laugh out of jason. "i'm sure you'll catch up, parker."

peter rolled his eyes, though playfully. "do you have some diet you follow with a routine to get this build?"

"no, i eat whatever i want," jason's expression softening, lowering his guard a little bit. "but speaking of food, is there anything else you like? so i know what to order or to make."

— sweet.

okay, i can agree with you here.

"i really like pizza, but i also eat almost anything, i'm not picky." jason nods, making a mental note that peter likes to keep things simple, maybe ordering pizza sometime this week, if things don't take a strange turn.

they get so invested in their talks that neither of them notice that strange feeling of being observed fizzling out. they sat on the bench engaging in conversation for an hour or two after that, both surprised at how well they get along when they're not assuming the worst about each other or the circumstances.

it's just them and conversation on that bench, and that's enough to clear the mind.

duke's mind, however, is fuzzy.

maybe it was from just finishing his day patrol, entirely exhausted from roaming the streets, wishing he had gone to his classes that day—maybe it was the mental stress of the upcoming exam season.

or maybe it was because a boy his brother was accompanied by looked him dead in the eyes while he was watching them on a rooftop—while he was invisible.

he was already surprised to see jason out like that, even more so with a guy he'd never seen before, them sharing food and talking so casually. though, he also felt like a stalker, just watching his brother who looked to be on a date while he's supposed to be on patrol.

as he heads into the batcave to change, he's met with tim, who's three zesti’s deep, finishing an essay on the batcomputer after his laptop broke and he hasn't gotten a replacement yet.

"oh, hey tim .. still on that essay?" duke says, his head not in the conversation he'd just started. "welcome back, duke—yes, i unfortunately am. how was patrol?"

"it was fine, nothing crazy happening—just .. normal gotham. as per usual." he slips his armor off, the relief being instant. he starts to hurry out the cave when tim calls out for him, duke stopping in his tracks—of course he'd notice something was off, being the detective he is.

duke turns around. "yeah?"

"are you okay?" tim asks, duke nodding immediately. would it kill him to be more subtle?

"yep. just tired, going to sleep now." tim squinted his eyes before nodding, typing away at the computer once again as duke left the cave. no, tim didn't believe him—yes, he will be watching him more closely for the time being.

"not nosy," tim mumbles under his breath. "just exercising my detective skills."

he pushes the newfound investigation aside, focusing on submitting this essay as quickly as possible, preferably before his shift starts.

the door clicked behind jason as they re-entered the apartment, jason tossing his jacket onto the couch and peter setting the one he was wearing on top of it. peter plopped onto the couch next to the clothes, an unexpected fatigue taking over him. he closed his eyes, feeling as the couch dipped next to him slightly, the head of a familiar pit bull finding itself on his lap. he instinctively starts petting, the sensation being one of the only things he feels keeping him awake.

"i'd say today was a success," jason says, washing his hands at the kitchen sink. "let's start talking about what you living here will look like."

peter opens his eyes, dog laying beside him as he looked around until his eyes found the other person in the room. "which is?"

"for starters, you need a phone so i know you're alive and can reach you," jason approaches the couch, stopping at the nearest armrest. "i don't mind getting you one, just don't lose it."

peter was about to strongly object, but jason didn't let him get a word in. "and you definitely need some clothes your size, unless the baggy boyfriend clothes aesthetic is what you normally go for, anyway." jason lightly teased, peter making a face in return.

"tempting, but i think i miss wearing pants that aren't threatening to slide off after one wrong move more than this." peter looked down as he tugged at the hem of his shirt, jason letting out a fake-disappointed sigh, putting on a show of frowning while clutching his chest, his eyebrows furrowed. "you don't like my clothes? you're killing me, parker."

peter lightly laughed, giving dog's head a good scratch. "you'll live," jason let go of the act he'd been putting on and spared a soft smile before walking away, though peter was quick to call for him before he got too far. "but seriously, jason," the taller one hummed in response, looking back toward the couch.

peter turned his head enough to be able to look at him properly. "i'm not trying to be a financial burden, you don't have to—" jason waved his hand, peter stopping mid-way. "no, don't give me any of that. it's not an issue, seriously—my bank account wont take much of a hit."

"what do you do for work that you can buy a phone and half a closet like it's nothing?" jason played it cool, but peter could hear how his breath hitched. "it's just money from a small inheritance i received, not anything out my paycheck."

peter noticed how jason dodged the question, but something in him told him not to pry, even though he wasn't comfortable with the response. he just shrugged, "if it's really no trouble, then i won't get in your way."

"sounds good; i'll take you out tomorrow again so we can do the shopping," jason turned again, starting to walk away. "i'll clear out my office space for you so you don't have to keep sleeping on the couch." peter hums loud enough for it to be heard before turning the television on, scrolling through the channels while jason removed anything from his office that peter had no business on finding.

he doesn't even get to put down the remote before he succumbs to the exhaustion—it's only when jason taps him awake that he jolts up, swinging, the other boy instinctively dodging. "easy," he says, holding his hands up. "the office is ready, i set some clothes out for you, too. bathroom's all yours."

peter recollects himself, "sorry, i'm not used to being woken up."

"i can tell." jason starts walking away. "i'm heading to bed now—goodnight."

"yeah," peter stretches. "goodnight .."

after showering, he falls asleep fast, almost as soon as his head hits the pillow. he entered a dream, a very lucid dream, in fact—it almost didn't feel like a dream.

he felt as if he was actually moving, actually seeing, actually feeling—but he was somewhere he didn't recognize, in clothes that he definitely was not wearing—"where .. where am i?"

the architecture didn't seem that of new york, or anywhere in america, really.

he looked around as the gusts of wind tugged on the cloth he'd been wearing as well as the leaves on the surrounding trees, some of them ending up at his feet. he could hear birds chirping in the distance as the sun was slightly peeking through the heavy overcast, it dawning on him just right.

in front of him was a large tree, its leaves brown and dry. he felt drawn to the curved brick wall surrounding it, keeping the dirt housing its roots in place. he sat down, not exactly knowing what he was waiting for, but .. he felt it.

he felt that he wasn't alone here.

— peter,
at the sound of that familiar, taunting voice, his senses spiked, though not indicating a direction where the danger would be coming from. this definitely wasn't a normal dream—"who's there?"

— don't be afraid, you're not in any danger.
the voice sounded clearer, less muffled and without static. he'd definitely heard this voice before, but he couldn't connect it to a name for the life of him.

despite his gut screaming at him to move, he stayed put. he'll wake up.

he'll wake up.

"i'm finding that very hard to believe, considering i'm .. well, here," he began tapping his foot, looking around for the source of the voice. he quickly realized that the source is omnipresent in this space, no physical body being the origin. looking around was useless. "i don't even care about where i am, i just want to wake up."

— not happening, not yet,
and it truly .. wasn't. he couldn't wake up. whoever—whatever this was, they were in control.
— i can imagine you have questions and feelings about what you're going through—i want to offer some clarity on what led up to you coming here.

it's just a dream, it's just a dream.

it's just a dream.

— you still haven't been able to remember what happened before you arrived?

peter paused to think, it ultimately being as useless as the other times he'd done so. he bit his lip, taking a deep breath. "no, i haven't."

there was a silent beat before the bodiless voice spoke again.
— raft was compromised,
it said.
— you responded to the alert before miles, not wanting to waste any time.

peter was quiet, as with each word, every piece of the puzzle was added, painting a clear picture of what happened that morning. "and .." he looked down at his feet, his mind imagining him in his bloodied suit as he was suspended in the air, one metallic tentacle holding him up by his throat. "and otto—"

— had managed to re-create his arms again under everyone's noses,
the voice said.
— they were sharper, stronger—you were hurt. badly.

peter looked at his hands, remembering how it felt when he was stabbed in his abdomen and held down, him getting weaker with each blow. he'd managed to catch some of his attacks, breaking an arm or two, the scraps ending up on the platform around them.

the metal that surrounded him when he arrived along with the injuries he'd woken up with now made more sense—otto had almost killed him, but peter wasn't going out without a fight.

— he was about to deliver the final blow before i brought you here.
the voice spoke.

"so that's why i'm here? so i wouldn't die?" he asked, his voice slightly rising.

— .. no. it is not.

"then why—"

— the time isn't right for that conversation. when things are not as raw, we will talk about it.

peter ran his hand through his hair, now convinced he's truly gone insane. "this isn't real, i'm—" he laughed nervously, then again in disbelief. "i'm dreaming right now, this isn't real—you're not real."

he leaned over, head in his hands as he was on the verge of tears. he felt like he was losing his mind while he was in his mind, in this dream—no, nightmare—that he wasn't able to come out of. he looked up—

"who are you? why are you—" his breath hitched, peter squeezing his eyes shut as he rubbed them. "why are you in my head!?"

— this discussion can't be rushed. you are not ready.

just then, peter sees a flicker of a pale set of hands as one folds itself into a fist as it pulls back, the other extending to push peter on his chest, the man falling backwards in return; it was almost in slow motion, the space around him slowly turning into the office he'd fallen asleep in.

he shot up from the comfort of his pillow and sharply inhaled before breaking into an intense coughing fit. he coughed so much that the preexisting nausea from lucid dreaming was amplified, prompting peter to make a run for the bathroom to throw up. he had been pretty loud, as jason was up no longer than a few seconds later, showing up in the hall to check on him.

he stood in the doorway as peter was on the floor, leaning over the toilet after vomiting. his face was colored with concern as he saw the state he was in.

"what happened?"

"i'm fine—" was all peter managed to choke out before beginning to cough again. jason walked over and leaned down slightly placing a hand on his shoulder. he noticed how cold the guy was again.

"breathe," he calmly spoke. peter's eyes were watery as a result from the pressure building up in his head from the constant coughing and choking, a tear streaming down his face. he was quick to wipe it away, taking deep breaths. the presence of someone else there—a real person—was comforting. jason just being there was enough for him recollect himself. "that's it, you're doing good."

peter nodded, feeling comfortable enough to breathe through his nose. "go back to bed, i'll bring you tea." jason retreated back to the hall and into the kitchen, preparing some ginger tea for peter. he flushed the toilet and rinsed his mouth, sluggishly making his way back to the office and sitting on the pull-out single sofa.

he was able to separate the memory of otto from his dream. he knew it happened, there was no denying it. he the entire sequence up until the point to where he ended up blacking out, the next thing he knew being a rooftop in blüdhaven.

beneath the confusion and fear, peter was slightly offended. he's twenty-two, not a teenager! he can handle big boy conversations and explanations, so he just couldn't understand why he wasn't given one.

he sighed, pushing the 'dream' aside for now, his eyelids growing heavy once more. the knocking on the door was what snapped him awake again before jason opened the door, mug in hand.

as he hands peter the tea, he doesn't ask what happened. he just sits there, keeping him company as they sit in silence—he didn't want to force a conversation, especially if it was about something that had peter so distraught that he ended up vomiting in his bathroom.

"thank you," he said between sips. "and .. i'm sorry for .. you know, waking you, having you make me this tea after throwing up in your toilet."

"you're welcome, don't apologize. shit happens, it's okay." jason was quick to reassure him, not moving from his spot on the floor next to him. "do you need anything else?"

peter shakes his head, drinking the last of the tea. "i'm okay, for real this time," he sets the mug down, though jason gestured for him to give him the mug instead, peter doing just that. "thank you, again .."

"don't mention it," jason stands up before heading towards the room door, finger on the light switch. "get some rest." he flicks the light off before closing the door behind him, the moment being over. it was .. well, pretty awkward, but they both made it work.

as jason washed the cup he wondered what could've happened. maybe it's a side effect from his regeneration? maybe it was an episode? or just a really, really bad dream?

again, none of his business, so he let the thought go, leaving it in the air. he'd maybe ask in the morning, but for now, he had to go on patrol.

he tried to wait long enough for peter to be asleep, given the 'ginger' tea wasn't only that, but he had mixed chamomile in it as well to help him sleep. he began to gear up painfully slowly as to not make any noise.

but peter heard everything, of course.

the chamomile had no effect, peter's metabolism being too quick for even caffeine to effectively kick in. he was wide awake, and listening as jason bucked his belt and reloaded his guns before opening the window and closing it, the muffled sound of a grappling hook following—and he's sure that's what it is, given the amount of times he'd heard felicia's.

and then, there was nothing.

just the distant hum of the fridge and dog's soft snores, interrupted by the occasional car driving by in the street below. he slowly crept out his room, knocking on jason's door. "hey .. are you okay..?"

there was no response, and peter silent knew that would be the case.

he was totally wrong for this, but he slowly opened the door, ultimately greeted with an empty room and a sleeping dog on his bed, taking in the cool air that was seeping through the crack of the nearly closed window.

peter knew jason's scars weren't just for show, but he'd hoped to delay the moment he'd find out the why as much as possible, not wanting to get on the wrong side of someone who could potentially be dangerous who also happens to be the only person that he knows is willing to house him.

he silently closes the door to his room, followed by the door to the office as he stepped in, heading back to bed.

— the less you know, the better.

now sleep.

Chapter Text

peter woke up disoriented, his head spinning. the memories of the previous night immediately rushed back, a wave of embarrassment crashing onto him. he's only been here for what, two days? three? he can't remember—regardless, he just puked in his new roommate's toilet and cried in front of him.

"jesus, get it together, peter," he sat up, holding his head in his hands. "facing him will be fine. it's only awkward if you make it awkward."

he stepped out his room and was greeted by the smell of freshly cooked bacon and buttered toast, and he could see the eggs that were yet to be cooked as he looked over.

jason heard the door click open, dog's head also turning in the direction of the sound. "good morning," he said, back still turned as he tended to the stove. "you feeling alright?"

peter responded simply with a weak and raspy hum, not quite sure what response he wanted to convey with it himself. his lids weighed down on his eyes as he leaned against the doorframe of the office. "i figured." peter could hear the slight smile on jason's face when he said that, peter scoffing in response.

peter noticed he sounded tired as well, even though he tried to put on a strong face. he remembered how he'd snuck out last night, armed and dangerous—of course peter wanted to ask about it, but how could he bring that up? how could he even expect that conversation to go well?

"i notice you're always up early enough to almost be done with breakfast when i get up," peter manages to mutter, running a hand through his hair. "if you want to do domestic, you can let me in the kitchen for some mornings," he weakly smiles to himself, sluggishly making his way to the dinner table.

jason's eyebrows twitch curiously, not expecting the playful banter after the tense night from before—of course, he entertains it.

"maybe," he cracks an egg over the pan, soft sizzles following. "how do you like your eggs?"

"in a scrambled mood today," as soon as peter sits down, he slouches over, arms crossed over the table as he rests his head atop of them. "still feeling like a mess?" jason teases, plating the bacon and toast and placing it in front of peter, patting his head in an attempt to get him to lift it. "you can start eating, eggs on the way."

he lifts his head, looking at jason through his eyelashes before shifting his focus over to the plated food. he hummed before picking up his fork and eating.

eventually, jason placed a plate of scrambled eggs beside peter's other dish. "i hope you're feeling better about the bike rides today, because the fashion district is farther away from here than the park." peter sighed dramatically, mouth full of bacon. jason quietly laughed to himself, "i am just loving the excitement today."

the shorter one grumbled as he continued to eat, the taller eventually sitting across from him and eating his own food. breakfast was relatively quiet, just talking about the plans for the day.

the quiet also included the voice in peter's head—or lack of.

he hasn't heard it yet this morning, and saying he was relieved is an understatement.

he silently hopes it doesn't come back.

duke had been taking his normal patrol route when he, once again, spotted that familiar tall boy with the white chunk of hair at the front walking around with a slightly shorter man who'd been talking his top off.

it's the second day in a row he's seeing them together, and now he's really invested.

he thought it was a one-time thing, at least for now; he hadn't expected to see jason 'i like staying indoors' todd walking around gotham with another person glued to the hip.

yet he found himself following the pair, the pure curiosity taking over once again.

when they walked into a store, the signal remained perched on a distant enough rooftop to not be seen by the majority of the public, just waiting for them to exit the building. he silently thought about who this new guy is and how he'd managed to drag jason out the house for two days in a row now.

his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice who he hadn't expected to hear for a few hours. "who are we watching?"

duke jumped at the sound and the feeling of a palm resting on his shoulder, immediately turning to the side in which the voice came from—there was red robin in full gear, likely sleep deprived and purely running off caffeine.

"tim—jesus," he whispered, letting go of the breath he'd held. "what are you doing here? shouldn't you be asleep?"

"i'll sleep later or something," he shrugged him off, looking back in the direction duke had been previously fixated on. "so we're stalking now?"

"no, we—go home, tim, you really need to sleep—" duke could slightly see through tim's mask how he squinted his eyes before they widened slightly. "wait, are you stalking jason?—who is that?"

duke turned to see what time was looking at, and sure enough, there they were, exiting the store with some new bags in hand. "not stalking, just .. monitoring," duke said. "and i don't know, i was wondering that too! i ran into them at the part yesterday, too. they were just on a bench, sharing some pastries and talking."

tim blinked. "like .. they were on a date?"

"i don't know, jason's never mentioned a new person in his life nor has he come out a closet," duke scratched his chin as he got up and walked parallel to where the pair was headed, tim following closely behind. "but look! he is completely spoiling him!"

tim hummed. "i'm definitely noticing that .." they kept walking until jason and peter stopped on the sidewalk at a red light, backs turned toward the bat pair. they watched as the stranger elbowed their brother, the two entirely invested in their conversation.

duke opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted as the boy by jason's side began to look around, strangely scanning the area—eventually, his eyes landed on the very rooftop the signal and the red robin were standing on, his cape flowing in the wind while the other instinctively went invisible the second he saw the boy start checking his surroundings.

it could've been a coincidence—also could've been a strange gut feeling.

either way, tim and duke were surprised at his awareness.

they quietly stood there staring at each other before jason noticed his company's attention being off of him, prompting him to say something to get it back. it worked, and the other did look away, giving duke and tim a window to disappear into another area before they looked back. duke came out of his invisibility, eyes slightly widened.

".. interesting," tim looked at his feet, thinking on what a good approach to this new .. investigation would be. he bit his lip before looking back up at duke, who is once again visibly shaken. "keep this between us—look for me when you get back to the manor." tim took his grappler and prepared to swing away, though duke stopped him.

"you're leaving already?" the signal folded his arms over his chest, the red robin turning to face him one more time. "oh yeah," tim said, placing a hand on his hip. "i just wanted to see if i could figure out what was up with you yesterday and i ended up getting more than i sought out," he shrugged, a smug smile appearing on his face as he thought of the ways to bring this up to jason. "but yeah, see you—i have a nap to take."

as tim disappeared, duke thought it'd be smart to leave as well before he'd actually get caught this time—the other person didn't see him. just tim, who was not even trying to hide after being caught.

.. he didn't see him, right?

"you good?" peter's head snapped back to jason. "oh, yeah! just .." he looked back at the rooftop and the figure was gone, a slight shiver going down peter's spine. "thought i saw something. are we set to go back to your place?"

"hm, almost," as the light turns green, jason glances over the several heads in front of him, trying to locate a specific building—he spots it; a small burger joint that he goes to almost every time he's in the area. he lightly tugs on peter's arm as they both begin to cross the street. "i'm feeling hungry, and you look like you want to eat too."

he follows closely behind, sitting across from jason when they get inside. this time, the menu was readable, peter just ordering a cheeseburger—small, simple.

but with the way he was starving, just one wouldn't be enough; he'll be hungry again in a half hour.

he just doesn't feel like it'd be wise to indulge in his typical diet in public, not even in front of jason in the apartment—a fast metabolism is one thing, this is another.

jason ordered a bit more food; peter's same order but with fries, claiming they're the best in the entire city—oh, and another coffee.

"are you sure that's all you want? one burger?" he leaned back in the booth, relaxing his posture. peter shrugged, "not that hungry."

the waitress walked by, asking them if she could take their orders. peter ordered for himself before jason, who not only ordered his food but also an extra meal, this one to-go. peter just figured jason wanted more for later.

"that's all?" she smiled, her pen stiffening on her notepad. jason nodded, "unless you want something else, peter?" they both glance at him, jason's expression unreadable. it makes him slightly uneasy.

"no, all good here." he responds, the waitress nodding before walking away to the counter. she tears out her page from the notepad and places it on the surface before picking up the nearby remote and turning up the volume on the television that hung above; news coverages including that of several muggings from the previous night as well as some missing persons reports—'typical gotham,' as jason said.

peter glanced over at the front door, a large page inked with information on hiring taped to it.

"you should consider it," jason said, leaning his head on his hand. "nice people, decent pay plus tips, from what i've heard." peter glanced back at jason, who looked slightly dazed and charged by the caffeine he'd consumed over breakfast. peter worried about him driving like this, potentially putting them both in danger.

jason noticed peter was looking at him with an unsure expression, maybe a hint of concern? jason made a face back, "what? do i have bacon in my teeth, or something?"

"you're tired—like, really tired," peter leaned slightly closer, squinting his eyes. jason's eyelids were very relaxed, as well as his eyes unable to stay focused on anything. his blinks were slow, lazy—when did he get back to his place?

jason felt like peter was looking right through him, the man's piercing stare making him feel slightly embarrassed as he was assessed. "you can't drive."

"oh really?"

"yes," peter leans back, crossing his arms over his chest again, doubtful. "i'm more willing to taxi."

jason weakly smiled, closing his eyes as he shrugged. "after the coffee i'll have enough juice to get us back safely," he opens his eyes as he sits back in the booth. "not getting us killed today, i can promise that."

"jason," he lifted a brow at the mention of his name, in a tone he couldn't identify. he sounded like a mother who was giving their child a chance to explain themselves before they got scolded. he hummed in response, peter leaning forward again, resting his arms on the table. "your eyes have been jumping around the room, you can't even focus them on something. you are going to crash that bike if you drive."

"i'm fine, mom," the other boy sighed, tilting his head back in the booth as he 'rested' his eyes. "i've done worse on less amounts of sleep. if we even get close to crashing, i'll .." he sluggishly trails off. "i'll get you some shoes, or something."

"you already got me shoes," peter tilted his head, slightly amused. "and even if you didn't, that doesn't scream 'i'm sorry for almost crashing into another car and leaving us paralyzed or dead' to me."

jason opens an eye, making a tired attempt at focusing it on peter. "seems like i've spoiled you too much," he opens his other, leaning his head forward though still slouched in his seat. "or have you just gotten better apology gifts?"

"little bit of both," peter shrugged, leaning back in his seat again. "if you don't seem normal after that cup of coffee, either i will drive or carry you back myself if need be."

jason snorted at the idea of peter, throwing him, six foot, probably twice his weight, on his back and walking from south gotham all the way up to north. while he wasn't too confident on the walking part, peter was more than confident that he could lift jason with little to no effort—but of course, the freckled male had no clue.

"message received, parker." jason pulled out his phone in an attempt to stimulate his brain, going through his notifications, several of which being from dick checking in and asking about peter, but there were also some from damian, who was once again inviting him to dinner as well as sending him a picture of a new art piece he'd finished.

i was inspired by dog when you had me dog-sit. i believe it is quite accurate to her.

jason reacted to it then responded specifically to the image—get me a copy, i'll put it on my wall.

he'd respond to dick when he gets back home.

when the food came, jason immediately started off with the coffee before even looking at his food. as jason began to eat, peter actually stopped the waitress. "excuse me," he said, her turning around in response with a smile. "yes?"

"i noticed that you guys were hiring," he signaled toward the door that had he poster. "i was wondering if—"

"yes!—yes, okay, i'll get you the application to fill out." and with that, she immediately shuffled away, seemingly looking for said application and maybe a pen. peter blinked, "short staffed?"

"maybe," jason swallows his food. "or she just wants her spot to be filled so she can quit."

peter shrugged, his soft smile fading as he took a bite out of his food.

though happy they made it back alive and in one piece each, peter wasn't happy with the fact that they only did so because he had to pinch jason awake for the entirety of the ride.

by the time they reach the door, jason is just about ready to fall over. he noticed peter's disapproving glare as well as him being abnormally quiet—oh he was mad.

"hey, don't be mad. we're alive, are we not?" jason fumbled with his keys, struggling to put the right on in the keyhole when he finds it.

"what time did you go to bed?" peter guides his hand with the key, helping him unlock the door before they both step inside. jason walks in first, peter following as he closes the door behind them.

"mmm .. late," jason says, who's now being greeted by dog before plopping down on the couch. peter crosses his arms, jason being able to feel his stare burn through his temple. he slightly turns to look at him through his heaving lids and eyelashes, the other still giving him the disapproving mom look. "stop being mad at me, i've done nothing wrong."

he closes his eyes as he tilts his head back. peter decides that it's too early on to argue, and even more that he is not a figure in jason's life to be lecturing him on sleep, nor is he even the right person to be doing so, if we bring up all the sleepless nights he's spent as spider-man.

but he's a superhero—it's not the same thing as .. whatever jason's got going on.

the shower helped him relax, peter throwing on a slightly oversized tee and some sweatpants that jason bought for him, loving the feeling of clothes that actually fit him. he walks into the living room and sees the tiniest bit of the back of jason's head peeking over the sofa backrest, incredibly still as he snored softly. peter wasn't going to wake him yet—the man needed a nap, at least.

dog must've heard his light footsteps, because before he could close his door, she showed up in the office, her stubby tail slightly wagging as she was excited to see him. he laid down on the pullout sofa, dog immediately jumping up onto him and laying down as well, laying her head on his chest as he pet her.

"hey girl," he mumbled, the weight of the dog causing him to feel slightly tired as well. "was your dad's snoring that annoying?"

of course she didn't respond, but gave that signature pit bull smile as she heard his voice. peter tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling as he found himself talking away to this dog.

"everything's so confusing," he sighed, half expecting to hear that familiar yet annoying echo in his head as he spoke, but it never came. "i fight my former mentor, he tries to kill me, i end up here, and now two people know that i have powers—well, a power, but i don't think they're stupid, they're most definitely speculating."

"and your dad in particular," he boops dog's nose. "is shady. shady as hell." he pauses for a while, silently questioning his sanity as he talks to a dog about his crisis like a therapist. "and i know he doesn't trust me either, despite taking me on some shopping spree like i'm his sugar baby, or something .."

"but between you and me, dog," he raises his head, looking down at dog, who's ears perked up at the mention of her name. "if it comes down to it, i can defend myself, though you might not take my side." dog tilts her head, making peter giggle at her cuteness.

"i think i'll miss you the most when i have to go back home, though." the air around them gets a bit heavier after that. peter's determined to get back to his home, his world—but he hadn't considered the possibility that he couldn't get back.

but he'll figure it out, he always does—he's spider-man, and spider-man always figures things out.

".. don't you agree, dog?" he said, as if he said the last bit out loud. it's quiet after that, peter and dog just quietly laying down, the spider feeling close to dozing off right then and there.

that was until he heard the bathroom door open and shut, the shower being turned on shortly after.

jason had gotten up from the couch and immediately jumped to shower. his nap was shorter than peter thought it'd be—hell, he was hoping jason would sleep on the couch entirely if it meant he'd get a full recharge.

dog was fast asleep in his chest, the sound of his heartbeat soothing her when jason knocked on the door, waking her as well as peter, who'd slowly been allowing himself to doze off. he was dressed, also in his comfortable clothes, though his hair was still damp despite him trying to dry it off with a towel.

"stealing my dog now, parker?" jason yawns, peter sparing a smug grin. "maybe," he shrugs. "she likes me—probably more than you."

"you wish," jason whistles, dog jumping off peter and skipping away to her owner. "we'll be going to bed now. goodnight." he waved as peter rolled his eyes as he called back out, "goodnight."

jason closed the door behind him and was kind enough to also turn off the lights. peter pulls out his new phone at the courtesy of his uncomfortably kind roommate, only now setting it up and making it feel like his.

it felt weird to see such an empty contact list, the only two being jason and the burger joint who he'd be anticipating a call from. he downloaded some social media apps (that were the same things in his universe but branded differently) and crated accounts, seeing what everything had to offer.

they were all based on location, so the majority of results were gotham-related or things that are massively trending in other parts of the world. he saw a lot about a bruce wayne, or as the headlines called him 'gotham's most eligible bachelor,' who'd both done a modeling shoot and also been seen drunk out of his mind riding a mechanical bull in a bar—such insane duality.

he also saw something about metropolis' man of steel, whom was mostly called superman. peter did some digging, and it turns out that he's actually an alien. peter found it kind of cool, but considering his other encounters with aliens .. he'd pass on this one.

and while on the topic of superheroes, there had apparently been sightings of who were talked about as gotham's protectors, all of them being some variation of a bat or bird, batman being the most talk about out of all of them.

"the caped crusader," peter mumbled as he read the post, getting a look at the picture of the sighting.

his suit and cowl had that glossy sheen that the rain had been leaving behind with each drop, as well as seemingly melting the eyeshadow around his eyes, only enough for streams of black to make their way out of the face covering and down his cheeks, who'd been cut and bruised from an intense night of fighting off criminals. he seemed tired, sitting on a rooftop ledge as he looked to be catching his breath.

".. okay, that is insanely tough, i can't lie." peter liked the post and kept looking through the #batfamily tag, seeing lots of posts about a nightwing, spoiler, signal, batgirl, bat woman, two robins—and that wasn't even all.

but the one that stuck out to him the most was the red robin.

he immediately recalled where he saw the suit before, why it seemed so familiar—

"holy shit, that's the guy that was watching me!" he whispered in surprise, eyes slightly widening. so he wasn't hallucinating—it gave him some comfort knowing that he wasn't just seeing things, but also brought him some anxiety knowing that he was being watched.

watching him, specifically—his spidey senses never lie.

he thought about what it could be, if maybe they already knew about him and were onto him? or maybe they were just fixated on him in the moment?

no, that couldn't be—his senses go off of danger, not curiosity. not to mention this is the second day in a row of this occurrence.

the memory of last night popped into peter's head again, more specifically the part where jason left the apartment with guns and a grappling gun.

maybe the red robin knew something about jason's night activities?

and if they did, what did he think when he saw him with jason?

would he think he's his man in the chair? affiliated with him and whatever his business is?

oh god.

though all speculation, peter felt strongly about that possibility, and even if that wasn't the case, there was still something about him that caught their attention, and not the good kind.

"parker. fucking. luck."

in the midst of his doom scrolling, he ends up falling asleep, his phone hitting the carpet underneath him.

this time, he wasn't awake to listen as jason's window open and closed.

the moonlight is covered by the heavy gotham overcast tonight, the additional darkness working in the bats' favor.

tonight's job? a stakeout.

spoiler and orphan were doing their usual patrols in the places of the two robins and the batman.

damian and bruce are perched up on corners of the roofs of the neighboring buildings while tim lays on one of the warehouse roof support beams inside.

after whispers of a new drug hit the streets of gotham, it was only a matter of time before bruce and tim would head about it and begin their own investigation—said investigation led them to this warehouse, where the drug is allegedly being developed and was set to be sold to a re-seller.

now, all they had to do was wait.

and they have been. for hours.

damian's getting impatient, oracle has her doubts but is afraid that if she were to stop paying attention for even a second, that it could blow this whole operation up. bruce is also keeping himself alert, though he is starting to believe that this operation is off.

and tim? tim's already lost faith, the boy's mind wandering as he zoned out, which worked in oracle's favor as she still had his eyes to work with.

damian lightly kicks his feet as they dangle over the ledge of the building, sighing tiredly. he activates his earpiece, "father?" it takes a second, but bruce did respond—he just had to make sure he wasn't missing anything in his vision. "robin?"

"what will pennyworth be making for us this weekend?" there's silence, and then a very faint sigh. "we're on a stakeout and you're asking about family dinner night?" tim chimes in, his tone having hints of disappointment and tiredness.

"i wasn't speaking to you, drake—i do not recall you receiving the 'father' title, unless there's something you want to share with us?" before tim can respond, bruce speaks again, shutting down the almost argument quickly.

"stop, now," two words is all it took for them to get serious again. they couldn't afford to have a dispute, especially not when they're supposed to be stealthy—they also shouldn't be having meaningless conversations like this one.

without taking his eyes off the streets below, bruce spoke again, "i don't know, he hasn't told me either," and even though he knows they shouldn't be discussing this here and now, he might as well get it out of the way, right?

"what'd jason say about coming over for dinner?" damian didn't answer immediately, and bruce knew the answer already, but he'd hoped that maybe this time he'd say yes.

"he said he's busy," tim's ears practically perked up—when jason's invited to things, he either says he doesn't want to or no with no explanation—busy? since when does jason todd give excuses? busy with giving the unnamed male he was with?

"did he say with what?" tim asked, tone a bit too eager for an answer.

"of course not. you know how he is private, drake—contrary to what you might believe, he does not tell me everything." damian responds. bruce hadn't said anything else, though everyone else on the line could sense the disappointment on his end. he understands why jason doesn't want to show up, or at least he thinks he does—and when he asked dick on advice on how to repair their relationship, he just said to give him space, give him time. let him more at his own pace.

if you try to force it, you'll blow any chance you have left of having a relationship with him.

so he doesn't force it, but also tries to include him whenever he can, always make sure he knows he's thought of when it comes to their family plans—and it doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated by jason.

"maybe i could try asking him?" tim offers. damian immediately objects, "if he won't accept my invitation, what makes you think you have a better chance?" although the others couldn't see him, they could hear the slight grin on tim's face as he spoke.

"i'm very convincing," he replies, sitting up from his laying position. "i'll give it my shot, last ditch effort."

damian sighs into the comms, "if that is what you want, drake."

ever since this morning, tim's been planning ways to purely just to mess with jason. not out of malice or hatred, but pure younger-brother mischief. besides, if he really needed an excuse, he could always just pull the 'you almost killed me' card, even though it's not a grudge he continues to hold.

after the prolonged silence that followed after, bruce's voice finally came on over the comms. "have you all heard from anyone else tonight?"

everyone's answers were similar, except oracle, who'd heard from orphan and spoiler a few times in the time of that the others have been on this stakeout. what was surprising however was the lack of information on dick's whereabouts in the last few days, not even oracle.

"his comms and location have been turned off since .. thursday? it's been around three days since i've last heard of him. what about you guys?" the robins give similar answers, bruce simply not saying anything.

"batman? do you know anything about nightwing?" tim asks, bruce having a reply ready.

"nothing. he may be my monkey but he's in a different circus."

everyone finds this behavior from dick to be incredibly odd, as he rarely ever goes entirely off the grid without telling someone, literally any single one of the bats. it's normally bruce, but if he doesn't know anything then something is wrong or something is being kept from the rest of them.

"what about jason?" tim asks. damian replies first, "he hasn't mentioned anything to me about grayson's whereabouts."

and oracle, "he only contacts me if he needs my help, we don't do the small-talk thing."

and bruce? well .. we already know the answer to that.

so after hearing all of this, tim gets the bright idea to text the red hood while he's on patrol. what could go wrong?

patrol tonight was calm, for the most part. he'd mostly been handling muggings, the most eventful thing happening tonight being him stopping a kidnapping attempt and returning the child to her mother.

he'd been jumping rooftop to rooftop, just taking in the autumn breeze as he swung with his grapple.

as his boots hit the next ledge, he could feel his phone buzz—a text message.

he stops to pull it out of his pocket and sees a notification from tim.

then another, and another.

jason sighs dramatically, opening the messages to respond.

Today, 1:12 AM

Tim

hey jason

i have a question

or two

Jason

Hi Tim

As long as it's not stupid go ahead and ask

I'm on patrol

Tim

"why do people ask if they can ask a question instead of just asking the question?" jason mumbles to himself as he watches the typing bubble go on for longer than hed like. just as he was about to put his phone away, it pinged again.

Tim

do you know where dick is?

Jason

No, why?

Tim

no one's seen or heard from him since thursday

was wondering if you knew what was up w/ him

jason bit his lip. in truth, he didn't really know where dick was either—all he knows is that he's not supposed to tell them why he's gone.

Jason

I don't know where he is

Tim

that's not what i asked

Jason

?

Did you hit your head or something? I literally answered your question??

Tim

yeah

the first one

he rolled his eyes, not feeling like doing the whole back-and-forth thing with tim tonight.

Jason

Tim

If you texted me to question me

On if I know something about where Dick is

During my patrol shift of all times

Then I'm done here

If I hear from or see Dick I'll let you guys know

Tim

with that, jason puts his phone on silent and shoves it back into his pocket.

tim, of course, texted jason back, questioning him on why he's deflecting and got so defensive out of nowhere—but in typical jason fashion, he was ignored.

he hadn't been able to exactly forge a good theory on what the hell is going on, but he does know that he'll text duke about .. well, some of his findings. the guy is probably up since he has no patrol tomorrow, probably doom scrolling on his phone in the dark.

Tim

duke

duke

duke

duke

duke? dookie?

WHAT

Tim

so listen to this

FIRST damian asked jason to come to the dinner. ofc he said no

duke? dookie?

okay?? and this is worth blowing up my phone how??

Tim

i'm getting there.

i asked damian why he said no, and instead of the typical "i dont wanna" or "no." apparently he told dami he was busy ??

all the guy does is polish his guns and read books with his dog. what would he be busy with all of a sudden ??

duke? dookie?

omg

THE BRUNETTE

Tim

EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING ...

BUT WAIT im not done.

duke? dookie?

how is there more.?

Tim

ssshhhhh

ok so

we also just came to the realization that dick's missing shortly after that convo

like missing missing, babs doesn't know abt his whereabouts either

completely off the grid

duke? dookie?

okay now THAT's weird

Tim

I KNOW RIGHT????

AND THE TIMING????

duke? dookie?

wait i'm walking with you here ..

Tim

OKAY SO THEN

since none of us know anything i text the one guy we don't rly regularly keep up with

jason freakin todd. right.

i text the guy asking abt dick and at first i ask him if he knows where he is

then i ask him if he knows what could be up with him and why he'd disappear

AND THE GUY JUST DODGES MY SECOND QUESTION??????

and when i pointed that out he got all defensive and started deflecting THEN STOPPED REPLYING

duke? dookie?

....

Tim

i think the brunette and dick's disappearance are connected we just can't prove it ..

yet.

i don't have a plan yet, but i do know that i want to get him to the manor for dinner on sunday

duke? dookie?

LMFMFAAAOOOODSAKDJIASH

and HOW will you manage that????

Tim

duke .. do you not know who i am ..?

i have a full deck of cards. if i manage to fumble this never let me live it down

duke? dookie?

"bats? you guys there?" oracle's voice abruptly came through on everyone's earpieces, tim in particular getting startled. everyone checks in, and as it turns out, the stakeout was a bust. everyone splits up and sets out to do their normal patrols, damian in particular being annoyed over the amount of time that was wasted.

but tim seems to be in much better mood than earlier.

jason found tim's behavior to be strange and out of nowhere—he didn't appreciate it.

tim was towing the line between asking questions and interrogating, dissecting jason's dialogue to find anything that could be mildly incriminating.

jason thought they were all on okay-ish terms, seriously—he didn't think that he would be a suspect in one of his family member's disappearances. he was almost hurt by this assumption, but it was something that couldn't be helped, as far as he's concerned.

he sends dick a quick text:

Today, 1:15 AM

Jason

Dick

I'm gonna need you to say something to the family as to why you've been unreachable for days

I have Tim insinuating that I must know something and while he isn't wrong he has no business questioning me like that

So

Please handle this thank youuuuu

as he's putting his phone away, he heard a scream and a loud crash. he heads towards the source of the noise—of course it would be a dimly-lit alley.

there stood two men and a woman was on the floor, shaking in pure fear. one of the men was waving a gun around, while the other looked at him blankly yet he left traces of his unease on his expression; you just had to look hard enough to notice it.

"hey," jason calls out, drawing his own gun. the gunman immediately pointed it at him, jason noticing the slight tremble in his hand when he laid eyes on that notorious red helmet on his head—but he stood firm, keeping his gun trained on him. "you don't look like you know how to use one of those, how about you go home?"

"oh, screw off, hood—you do see i have a gun, right? and i can pull this trigger?" the criminal starts to get arrogant, jason smiling in disbelief.

"how cute," he says, pulling out his second gun. "looks like you're outnumbered. oh, and don't be fooled, there's a third in my waistband. i've had a pretty boring night and haven't had a chance to use it."

the man was dumbfounded, his hand shaking more visibly now. "i'll give you ten seconds. ten, nine, five—"

and with that, he took off, jason quietly laughing to himself as he holstered both his guns, walking up to the couple. the woman was able to get back up on her feet, the other man letting out a breath he seemed to not even know he was holding in. "thank you," he said, his eyes roaming in the direction of jason's voice.

the woman also thanked him, and also the stranger, who apparently had stepped in to defend her, before hurrying off and out of the alley, disappearing into the night streets. jason was left with the other man, who's been avoiding eye contact with him this entire time.

"have somewhere you can go to..?" jason awkwardly asks, the man letting out a pitying laugh. "haa .. the nearest hotel? i'm here visiting.". he nods and lightly tugs on his arm, walking him all the way to an affordable hotel that he used to crash at when he didn't have a fixed home himself. he thanked him one last time before jason left for his apartment, calling it a night from there.

as he slid through the window, he silently walked around the rest of the place, excluding where peter was sleeping. everything seemed to be left in place like last time, easing jason's mind. out of precaution and unapologetic curiosity, he did take a small peek into peter's room, and there he was met with him, soundly sleeping. the moon peeked through the window of the office almost perfectly, its light bleeding through the blinds and bouncing off his skin. he could hear that same faint muffled snoring, even after he closed the door.

he was sure to be quiet as he did as well as when he took a quick shower, wiping off his chest plate and throwing his non-identifying clothes into the washer. his helmet and top were stored under the bed (of course) out of view, forgotten until next patrol.

he crawled into bed with dog closely following behind, her naturally snuggling up to him and taking up half the bed like always.

jason's thoughts are crowded with his interaction with tim, dick taking his sweet-ass time, as well as his conflicting feelings about peter. in one hand, he's very pleased that they're getting along well, but he's still put off by all the mystery surrounding him. he wants to wait to get on better terms before asking for answers.

in a way, he's entitled to them, right? he's feeding him, getting him clothes, putting a roof over his head—the least he could do is just .. be honest.

or is that weirdly entitled?

what does he know? he fell asleep before he could come to a conclusion, anyway.

Chapter Text

jason slept in today.

he rolled over and picked up his phone from the nightstand—it was two in the afternoon. a chunk of his day was already gone.

he clung onto his phone as he set it down, closing his eyes and groaning tiredly as he felt his body ache from the amount of walking he'd done yesterday, both while out with peter and while on patrol.

dog escaped his room after he left the door slightly ajar the night before, the only thing keeping him company being the cool air flowing through the crack of his window.

he did eventually get up and step out into the hall, the main area of the apartment being deserted, leaving jason to believe that peter and dog were likely in the office space.

he went about his morning routine, having a small bowl of cereal to start off his afternoon. upon checking the fridge for milk, he saw that peter had (thankfully) eaten the extra order he brought from the diner. the guy definitely eats a lot.

he let himself fully wake up before knocking on peter's door, the other male inviting him in shortly after.

jason opened the door, and there was peter with his window also slightly opened and dog curled up at his side, having a blanket draped over the both of them as peter scrolled on his phone.

"well don't you two look comfortable," jason leaned on the doorframe, peter shrugging as dog got up and stretched before going to greet jason.

"it's saturday. today is like, the day to be lazy," peter says, scrolling through his social media feed. "you should be lazy too."

"i was planning on it," he found himself on the floor with dog on his lap, still leaning on the doorframe as he played with her. "doom scrolling?"

"sort of," peter was about to ramble before a light bulb flickered in his head. "oh! i wanted to tell you—i got the job. i start monday."

"oh, no interview?" jason asked, peter shrugging. "they said it 'wasn't required' and that 'there's mandatory training regardless.' is that normal here?"

"not really—seems like they're desperate," jason laughed, dog now curled up beside him. "that's good on you, regardless." his response was genuine, peter appreciating it.

"yeah, i'm hoping that i'm entirely healed up by then," jason furrowed his eyebrows, "are you not?"

peter smiled, doubtfully. "well i've recovered a decent amount, but there was a lot of internal damage in my abdomen, i don't know if you forgot .." now that he knew how he got those injuries, a chill ran down his spine just thinking about what could've led to otto being so brutal. he bit his lip, pushing the thought aside. "but things like that take a bit longer. i guess that's part of the reason why i've been so tired."

jason was surprised at how peter was starting to open up about his regenerative abilities, and how comfortably he was doing so—but the explanation only brought him to the realization that he'd likely been pushing peter to his limits with all the walking they've been doing.

"wait," jason shifts his sitting position, peter moving his phone away from his face due to the movement, temporarily shifting his focus. "have i been pushing you? physically? i didn't know you still had pain—"

"oh no, i'm fine, really!" peter was only partially honest—while he's dealt with worse, he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a slight pain sometimes when he walked, or even when he'd shift too much of his weight on one side as he laid in bed at night.

"if i couldn't handle it, i'd tell you." jason hummed in acknowledgement, relaxing his posture again. peter resumed to scrolling through short videos and news posts, mindlessly rambling to jason about things he'd been seeing as he quietly listened.

having long and slightly meaningful conversations like this is always something peter holds dear to him, regardless of the person—he's always been one to cherish the little things in life, this case being a tired and slow monday morning spent with his new roommate who he's still slowly getting to know.

although not being the most open, jason felt comfortable enough to be engaged in conversation with peter, telling playful stories about his youth as peter did the same.

their conversation was cut short though, jason hearing his phone pinging from his room, letting out a disappointed sigh in return. "hold that thought."

he went and checked it, and surely enough, they were notifications from dick:

Dick

hey

i'm outside your place

need to talk to you

it'll be quick

jason took a deep breath as he raised his eyebrows, mentally preparing himself for whatever news dick has waiting for him. he threw on some slippers and peeked his head through the doorway again.

"i'll be right back," he said. peter furrowed his eyebrows, "is everything okay?"

"yeah, my brother's just here and wants to talk to me," he steps out, heading towards the front door. peter resumes to his phone as jason called out again, "if anyone knocks, it's not me."

he lightly scoffed as he heard the door close. he resumed to his phone, stumbling upon a tweet with an article attached:

peter's heart aches slightly as he read the headline. he couldn't bring himself to read the article, but this sparked a fire in him that he'd tried to put out since he got here—that feeling of responsibility for his people.

— you can't be spider-man, peter. not yet.

jason steps outside his complex, and sure enough, there was dick, wearing a pullover with the hood up, hands in his pockets as he leaned against the wall. "jay!"

"dick—"

"you didn't answer my text."

jason looked at him, puzzled. "but i texted you?"

"i asked about peter," he mumbled. "you didn't answer my question."

jason remembered dicks text that he'd put off replying to; he asked about his health, how they were getting along, if he was being any trouble—and jason did indeed not respond.

"oh, right—sorry, i thought i did," dick looks at him, unsurpised. "we're good, he's pretty normal, besides the whole 'i don't know some things that should be common knowledge' thing. he just talks a lot, eats a lot, and is a bit of a dork."

dick looks pleasantly surprised, "that's good!—yeah, that's great. i um, i got the whole family thing sorted, so as far as they know, i'm leaving on a solo mission in europe on monday," he nervously smiles, shifting his stance as he breaks eye contact, though quickly glancing back. "and i'm showing up to the dinner tomorrow night. you coming?"

jason isn't one for repeating themselves, but he does so anyways, hoping this is the last time. "not only do i not want to go, but i don't feel comfortable leaving peter alone in my apartment with all the shit i have in there."

"right, right .." dick paused for a moment before shrugging, "you should reconsider."

"no."

"ehh, i really think you should go."

"i don't want to."

"no, jason—you have to come to the dinner." dick spoke urgently, almost as if he didn't have a say in the matter—and jason believed it, as his brother knows trying to pressure him into doing something never works.

".. why?" jason asked. dick took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and defeated. "i can't tell you," he responds. "i'm scared you'll paralyze tim from the waist down if i do."

jason rolled his eyes. sure, the way tim was texting him last night was strange, but he didn't think that tim was going to take whatever he thought jason did and run with it like this.

"and what about our help?" he asks, ignoring dick's demands for now. dick doesn't press on, hoping he got through to jason even a little bit.

"should have her sometime next week, if all goes well," he checks the time on his phone. "okay, i have to get going, but please, show up to the dinner."

"right. bye, dick."

"love you too, little wing." they part ways from there, dick walking down the street and jason making his way back upstairs to the apartment.

'should have her sometime next week, if all goes well.'

that narrows it down, but not enough. he doesn't know whether or not to be wary of this help or if he shouldn't, knowing the contacts and coworkers dick has. the suspense of it all is just killing him.

he closes the front door behind him and locks it, kicking off the slippers he had on and leaving them by the door. he made his way back over to peter's room, the guy not having moved from his position. "welcome back."

both of them could sense the shift in mood in each other just from a look alone. peter put his phone down momentarily, "what's up?"

jason sicks back down where he'd been before he left the apartment, not really looking at peter after he asked. he exhaled, biting his lip—"do you .."

he paused, unsure on how to approach the topic without spilling everything.

it's not like he hated his family. he loves them, he really does—he's just hurt, and from that hurt grew resentment and distrust. he doesn't feel ready to face them, especially bruce, and dick knows that, more than anyone in fact, as jason's confided in him about his feelings the most.

which is why he was taken aback by dick insisting so much. something had to be wrong enough for dick to push him to do something he isn't emotionally ready to do unless he had to.

"my dad and i aren't really on talking terms," jason exhaled. "but he along with some of my other siblings want me at family dinner tomorrow night, and i'm just conflicted on whether or not i should show up." peter didn't say anything initially, but shifted his brain into guidance figure mode, only really using it when miles needed advice.

"what would you do?" jason finally looked back over to peter, who now had a more serious expression on his face. this was obviously not easy for him to talk about, nor was he really comfortable talking about it—the slight twinge in his voice made that very clear.

"well, what i would do depends on why i'm not on speaking terms with my dad," peter shifted slightly, adjusting his laying position. "disagreement?"

"you could say that," jason shrugs. "we'll never see the world through the same lens. causes us to clash, fight—the last few times were really bad, and i decided i was done, and i left." of course there was more to it, but they weren't in a place where he was comfortable telling yet.

peter bit his lip, now feeling conflicted, too. "uhm," he spoke, another pause following. "i think i'd go? contribute to conversation if addressed, limit my contact with him in the least awkward way possible—i guess just be there as a way to say 'i still love you, just need a minute.' but this is just me saying what i'd do without knowing your whole story, so don't feel pressured to take my advice—you know yourself and your feelings best."

he looked at jason, waiting for a response—part of him expected a sly remark, maybe condescending comment as there was a chance peter said the wrong thing, but neither of those came. jason was just .. quiet. thinking.

peter didn't try to get him to say anything either. he just sat there, giving jason time to organize his thoughts.

".. okay."

"yeah?"

"yeah," he finally returns peter's gaze, feeling the previous embarrassment fizzle out. "thank you."

"of course. i'm always here if you need to talk—unless you kick me out of course." peter joked, going back to scrolling on his phone. while jason was gone, he'd caught up with the most recent news headlines, including the drug cases, which have yet to leave his mind.

kids?

the most recent death was a teen around miles' age. his chest tightened just thinking about anything like that happening to his kid—and yet, he felt completely powerless, despite his dna proving him otherwise.

what was he supposed to do without a suit? without his webs?

— you'll know when it's time.

and this damn voice is back in my head! can things get any worse, seriously?

"and what's got you so worked up?" peter's eyes dart back up at the question, jason's voice pulling him out his head. "you're observant," he replied, jason giving a small smile. being from a family of detectives, attention to detail is to be expected from him.

"that i am," he responded. peter kept scrolling through his phone, pursing his lip as he saw another news report. "it's nothing personal like yours, but it's .. disturbing. sad."

"what happened while i was gone?" jason's brows creased, peter waving for him to go toward him. he made his way over, the other boy sitting up from his laying position as he signaled for him to sit next to him. "look," he said as he showed jason the phone, who was now sitting down next to him. he took it and read the article that peter'd been reading, his blood slowly beginning to boil.

"there's this .. drug going around apparently—people are calling it pink carbon, others saying pink dahlia. people on the younger side have also been getting their hands on it, there being a third reported death last night," peter leaned over to get a better look at the screen, his cheek brushing over jason's bicep as he pointed to a line of text. "sixteen, nineteen, eighteen—these are kids being sold a deadly psychedelic—and who knows how many teens this has been sold to?"

jason clenched his jaw, still reading through. all he could think about was how this was the one thing he wanted to avoid, and it seemed like he fell short in his mission. what a way to control crime.

he'll be paying visits to a couple of his friends later tonight.

he exhaled through his nose, "shit—that's sad," he tried to throw a sheet over his anger, putting it aside for his investigation. "it really is," peter replied as he got his phone back. he could hear how jason's heartbeat sped up for a brief moment, could see how his jaw tightened slightly. "apparently it's been a few days since it's been found out, but the deaths have happened in the last forty-eight hours."

in the last two days? jason couldn't help but get suspicious of the man next to him, considering that he'd gotten there no more than three, four days ago?

but it had to be a coincidence—peter hadn't left the house without jason being there with him. unless he'd been sneaking out at night, too? but then how would he have gotten back inside? he doesn't have any sort of gear to scale the building—nor does he even have the equipment to develop such a drug and do it under jason's nose.

but this is gotham; anything is possible.

jason's mad at himself for not catching it sooner. once the sellers realized their business was successful while remaining under the red hood's radar, they must've gotten bold, reckless—they thought they could get away with maximizing their profit and selling to anyone.

a mistake they'd have to answer for in time.

peter closed the app before turning off his phone. he pushed down that feeling of guilt and obligation for the time being, trying to focus on being peter parker, that is until he can put the suit back on. "but let's maybe talk about something else so we don't get so depressed. i'm hungry. are you hungry? you look hungry. let's talk food."

they go over their options but ultimately land on ordering food, capitalizing on it being a lazy saturday. they'll get back into the kitchen soon—today's just not the day.

they decide on a pizza, half-cheese, half-pepperoni.

peter stays in his room while jason steps out to make the order. before he dials the number, he quickly shoots a few texts to dick, that he sincerely hopes won't come and bite him in the ass later:

Jason

Okay

I'll be there

What time

Dick

oh thank god

8pm as always

duke and tim are settled in tim's room while tim types away on his school laptop, rushing through assignments so he doesn't have to worry about them later. meanwhile, duke is laying on the floor with his legs propped up onto tim's bed, scrolling through videos and occasionally showing them to tim.

"you know," duke breaks the silence, putting a pause to his scrolling. "i'm surprised dick didn't square up with you after you pulled that stunt."

tim laughed before taking another sip of his zesti. "they really don't want whatever's going on to reach bruce—but i am fully expecting to get my ass handed to me by nightwing when this is over."

duke hummed, shifting his position to where his back is up against the bed. "did i tell you," duke started, him setting his phone down. "that yesterday wasn't the first time that happened?"

just as the question was asked, tim finished up his final assignment, submitting it before turning in his chair, now facing duke. "which part?" tim asked. "you stalking them or being spotted?"

duke rolled his eyes. "being spotted. he's like, hyper-aware of his surroundings, knowing when he's being watched."

"i noticed that, too," tim replied. "awareness like that isn't natural; it's something that has to be learned, trained to do." duke shifted awkwardly—while he agreed with tim, the way he spotted him the first day still had him extremely uncomfortable. "what?"

"i'd agree with you, but .." he paused for a beat. "but?" tim's eyebrow twitched, wanting duke to continue.

duke cleared his throat, "when he spotted me the first time, i was invisible," tim's eyebrow twitched in confusion. "you're sure?"

"well, there wasn't anyone else on that roof with me, tim." duke sarcastically replied, tim being the one to roll his eyes this time. "he looked directly at me. he either has some sort of heat vision on top of his unnatural senses or said senses are really just that strong," duke stood up and sat on the bed, uncomfortably running a hand through his hair. "regardless, it's not normal—he's not normal, and from the looks and sound of it, jason and dick know that."

"which is why they're trying so hard to hide him." tim finishes their combined thought, them also sharing the new one that followed—why? why are they protecting him?

was he in the league with jason? is he an alien? meta? some kind of spy? is he a former threat bruce's dealt with in the past? it just makes no sense.

the silence is broken by the sound of tim's phone vibrating, then again, then again—he picked it up and unlocked the screen, seeing three notifications from dick.

dih

he agreed to show, keep your word

as for jason, i cannot put a stop to anything that happens at that dinner table. if it comes down to it i will stand close to you i guess

and best believe when this gets resolved that you will be dealt with timothy! love you

"looks like our dearest estranged brother will be joining us for dinner," tim clicks his phone off. "and you doubted me."

"that's before we put some new pieces together," duke stretches. "seeing how desperate they are to keep things under wraps, i see how it worked out—but i don't imagine a world where you get away with this."

"oh, best believe i got a threat in that same text message," tim spun around in his chair. "but you gotta see it through—we're in too deep to quit now."

duke laughed quietly. "i refuse to take the fall with you, though—you've done more than i have, i have little to no part in this." tim smiled condescendingly, shaking his head. "nu-uh. we're in this together, duke—you're the reason why we're here in the first place."

"oh, don't pin this all on me—you are the one going out of your way to mess with things!" duke crossed his arms, tim waving him off as he turned back towards his desk. "and who was encouraging it?"

duke dramatically sighed as he let himself fall flat on the bed, going back to doom scrolling while tim started to load up a game, when his phone pinged again—this time, it was bruce.

tim's heart dropped—to him, this meant that bruce had definitely overheard their conversation and is asking him about it.

dad (bruce)

Tim

Come down to the cave. It's about the Pink Dahlia.

he was slightly more at ease reading this, but still kept his guard up. "hey, i have to go down to the cave real quick .." he quickly shut down his computer and got up, shoving his phone in his pocket. "bruce needs me for something, it's about the investigation he's been conducting this week."

"good luck." duke says, rolling over on his stomach. tim's halfway out the door when he looks back, "you're making my bed, by the way."

"sure."

when tim enters the cave, he sees bruce in front of the batcomputer, leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful hand placed on his chin. "you needed me?"

he spared tim a quick glance before signaling him to approach the screen, to which tim read the headline of a new death that occurred last night—the night of the stakeout. he leans forward, clicking the keys and moving his mouse. "i did a background check on all the victims—all teenagers, aged sixteen through nineteen, and they all happen to live in crime alley."

"but that's—"

"jason's domain? i know, which makes this harder to deal with." bruce heaved a sigh. "i agreed to not meddle with his area, and under his protection, kids have been dying." tim quietly looked at bruce, slightly antsy.

".. so what do you want to do?"

"i was hoping to just bring it up and ask about it. did you get around to asking him if he's coming for dinner tomorrow night?" tim's fidgeting gets more obvious at the question. "are you alright?"

"yep! just had three cans of zesti's, so i'm kind of jittery," he had that response ready in his brain, if his unease were to be pointed out. "i actually have, and uh—he agreed to show up."

bruce let out a breath he didn't know he'd even been holding. "that's .. a relief," were the words he found, mumbling them as he turned back toward the computer. tim spoke up, "i can ask him about it before or after dinner, see if he's already onto it," he suggested.

"that's fine. communicate it with me afterward—in the meantime, oracle and i will keep digging and see if we can find any traces of the drug being sold in other parts of gotham," bruce began typing again, focusing on his work. "thank you, tim."

tim hummed in acknowledgement before leaving bruce to his work, heading back up to his room. the random spike in drug-related crimes in gotham conveniently happening as jason's new friend popped up didn't sit right with him; maybe he could be behind this in some way? but if he was, why would jason and dick side with him?

so many questions with little answers.

Chapter Text

when the pizza arrives, peter's curled up on the sofa with dog, who grew curious of the savory smell and immediately shot up from her laying position. of course she's well-trained (courtesy of damian), so she doesn't jump onto the table when the box was opened and the two boys began to eat.

while there wasn't much to talk about, the thought of this 'bat family' lingered in peter's mind after his discovery of the red robin. he wanted to talk to jason about it; tell him about what he saw, ask him why it could've happened; what stopped him was the thought of jason growing paranoid after being told that they were being followed on potentially more than one occasion.

in the end, he'd just leave that small, 'insignificant' piece of information out—at least for now.

peter, mouth full, hummed to get jason's attention. in turn, the other turned away from the television to look at him, raising his eyebrows as a response. peter swallowed his food before talking, "i have a question or two, and they might sound .. odd,"

jason cocked his head to the side—expression curious—before nodding for peter to continue, still chewing. "what is the bat-family?"

he nearly choked on his food upon hearing the question. he felt awkward, of course, with peter unknowingly asking him about his family's double-life.

but what also was shocking was, of course, that peter didn't know who they were. it's shown itself to be a trend—or some kind of pattern of oblivion—so much in the little time that jason's known him that at this point, he's unfazed.

he also swallows his food, peter now taking another bite out of his slice. "the batfamily? family of vigilantes that are some variation of a bird or bat," jason explains, peter listening intently. "they have too many members to count, but the most prominent ones are batman, robin, spoiler, red robin, nightwing, batgirl, and signal."

"i see," peter continues to eat, an uncomfortable silence following. "why?" jason questions him.

"i was just scrolling on socials, saw a lot of people talking about them, they even have fan pages and stuff, it's crazy," peter continues to eat his meal, jason neglecting his as he pushes down that strange feeling in his stomach.

"that's that superhero publicity," he finally takes a bite out of his pizza, leaning back into his armchair. peter would know a lot about that. "wait until you find out about superman."

"eh, i'll leave that for another day, my timeline is already filled with the bats, i don't want to add anything else." jason lightly scoffs, picking up a new slice. peter's already on his fourth and planned to stop there.

but damn, was he starving.

he couldn't continue to pretend like he wasn't.

"so there's something else about he that i have to tell you, and i need you to not freak out." jason looked at him doubtfully, "well that's not reassuring—but shoot."

"okay," peter clears his throat. "so when i told you i have a fast metabolism, i didn't mean it loosely—a complete meal for me can feed five people," he felt a bit of tension leave his shoulders as the words came out with surprisingly more ease than he expected. "i just wanted to tell you because i've been low-key starving myself these last few days because i don't want to freak you out."

"okay, first of all" jason sets down his food temporarily before pointing at peter. "don't starve yourself, seriously—and second, that's not as weird as me being able to watch your wounds close up in real time. you could've told me this, i would've fed you better."

peter sucked in a breath, slightly embarrassed. he felt like he was living with may again, almost being able to hear jason's words in her voice—he felt for making him feel like he has to take such responsibility for him.

"i didn't want to drain your fridge." peter shrugged, continuing to eat. jason rolled his eyes, "good thing you'll be working, so you can help me with groceries."

"that's true," peter finished his slice, now feeling more comfortable to eat at his usual pace. "i hope the grocery store is within walking distance, though."

jason snorted. "there's no way i scared you that bad." referring to their adventures though the streets of gotham on jason's bike, all of which peter was clinging onto him like his life depended on it. "you drive that thing as if you have no regard for human life, jason. i'm convinced you were testing my limits on both days."

that got a good laugh out the both of them, jason shrugging innocently. "won't confirm or deny."

peter softly chuckled. "but seriously, i want to learn how to get around myself, with public transport and all that," his tone had reverted back to its relaxed setting, jason attempting to mirror it but was unable to mask the uncertainty in his voice. "are you sure?"

"i'm not made out of glass, jason," peter waved him off. "i'll be fine, seriously."

he wasn't going to challenge him; if he wanted to be on his own, jason wasn't going to contest that—he's not his mom, nor his aunt may.

he was, however, going to take precautions. something could happen to peter while he was off on his own, as well as there being the chance that he could do something to someone else—he's had to be sure.

"mind sharing your location with me, then?" peter's slightly taken aback. "why?"

"you're new to the area. if you get lost, i can just come get you." it was solid reasoning peter couldn't really argue with, and to be honest, he wasn't really opposed to the idea, anyway.

"sure, but you're sharing yours, too," he reached for another slice of pizza. "but let's wait until we're done with eating; i'm not touching my phone with pizza hands."

"no rush," jason gets up and heads to the kitchen sink to wash his hands. "you can have the rest, i have to save space for the dinner."

peter let out a surprised hum before swallowing his food. "you decided to go?"

"yeah, i thought about it and decided to," he turns back to look at peter, drying his hands off with a small towel. "but can i trust you while i'm gone?"

he wanted to respond with the fact that he had been trusting him while he sneaks out at night, but that's only because he's asleep—peter already knows about jason's nightly habit, but doesn't look into it—

at least not until he can put the mask back on.

"well, of course," he tried to sound convincing enough. "maybe just give me a spare key so i can walk dog while you're gone."

"ah," jason made his way back the armchair and sat down. "i have no doubt that you're capable, but gotham at night isn't like new york."

peter laughed, very sure of himself. "i can take care of myself, jason—worst case scenario, i have dog to back me up."

he scoffed, though smiled with a hint of smugness. "you are not sacrificing my dog because you can't fend for yourself, parker." peter laughed again, stretching a bit. "it's jokes, i'll be fine, seriously."

jason tapped his food, shrugging quickly after. "okay. i have a spare in my room, consider it yours."

peter let out a pleased hum as he took another bite out of his pizza, jason standing up again and heading to his room to find the spare key he kept. peter practically inhaled the rest of the meal, also getting up himself to wash his hands. "when will you be back?" he calls out from the kitchen.

jason rummages through his drawer. "uh," he finally finds the key and steps out of his room. "it's hard to say, but i'll try to be back before eleven."

"sounds good," peter dries off his hands. "i'll probably be asleep by then."

"okay, i'll try not to wake you," he walks up to peter and drops the key in his hands. "try not to lose it, yeah? getting a copy is a hassle." peter took it and put it in his pocket. "don't worry, i'll take care of it."

jason goes to the living space and reaches for the empty box, but peter stops him. "go get ready, i'll clean up."

jason wasn't one to object to that. he retreated to his room and began to pick out his clothes, peter taking care of the 'breakfast' aftermath.

it's around five in the afternoon. dick had arrived at the manor, being welcomed in by bruce this time, as alfred was preoccupied with the kitchen—no one was allowed in unless their intent was to raid the fridge.

they briefly catch up, bruce making dick aware of the case he and tim are trying to crack down on. dick assures him he'll keep an eye out for any activity in blüdhaven that can be pink-related.

"it's mostly concentrated within park row, from what we've seen." bruce walks dick to the living area as he sits down, picking his book back up. dick remains standing, intending to walk away in search for the rest of his family after the discussion. "if you want, i can talk to jason about it."

"no need," bruce didn't look up from his book. "tim's got it covered." he looks up now, and the bruce could've sworn he saw dick's eye twitch. "oh, really?"

"yeah," he looks back down at his book. "he's been able to get through to jason recently, it's slightly alarming."

dick shifts his weight. "so i've heard." bruce hums, not exactly knowing what to say after that. "well i can still help if needed, unrelated to jason."

"if you want," bruce exhales slightly, though not out of annoyance. he puts his bookmark back onto the page and shuts the book, resting it on the coffee table. "there's a few more connections and locations i want to look into and i'll need a second opinion and set of eyes for."

dick agrees to helping him, knowing how their last 'stakeout' went—lord knows bruce needs the help for this one.

he notices his father's good mood, and has a good idea as to why that is. he's happy jason's coming over for dinner too, and finds it heartwarming to see his father be more uplifted at the thought of having his family back together, even if it's for one night.

but then there's the doubt that lingers in the back of his mind—jason is still .. well, jason. he's coming against his will essentially, and anyone with eyes can look at him and say that the boy needs to do some healing.

dick really hopes tim knows what he's doing.

dick makes his way to damian's room and knocks, his voice calling out from inside the room to come in. he opens the door and sees pennyworth the cat laying on damian's bed, his attention then shifting to his little brother doing homework whilst sitting on the floor in front of his bed, unusually focused on math problems he could do in his sleep.

"grayson." he mumbles without needing to look up. he flips to the next page of his pamphlet, continuing to write. "you're early."

".. damian .." dick's eyebrow twitches before he approaches the child, sitting on the floor next to him. he doesn't even acknowledge him; just continues to do his work.

"okay, what's wrong?"

"nothing is wrong. i am just frustrated with this worksheet." dick can see how his lip pursed and how he pushed his eyebrows together slightly—the eldest was not buying it.

"you never get frustrated over math homework, damian," he points out. "you know you can tell me, its fine."

he's initially quiet, but then sighs as he finishes up his homework. he closes the pamphlet and sets his pencil down, resting his back against his bed. "when i asked todd to come, he said no," he started, crossing his arms with a scowl on his face. "but when drake asks, he agrees with seemingly zero pressure."

dick listens silently. "do you think—" damian hesitates to continue. he swallows the lump in his throat with some of his pride, deciding to maybe show a bit of vulnerability. he looked up at dick. "do you think he may like me less? as a brother?"

the question almost physically hurt dick to hear. damian and jason have a unique bond, having met in the league when jason first arrived. talia immediately introduced him as his his brother to damian, making him feel connected in a way. jason had been in a catatonic state for a while, and damian took it upon himself to be the voice he needed while he adjusted and became jason again.

he would speak up for him, defend him when he was helpless—and although their history has become something unspoken as time went by, there are times where damian jumps into his instincts from before—and jason lets him.

which is why he was so hurt by this; it may have seemed small, but to damian? it felt like he was tossed to the side.

dick sighed. "it's not like that at all, dami—i promise you," he placed a hand on his shoulder, damian looking away, slightly embarrassed as he heard dick's older brother instincts kick in. "jason loves you, that hasn't changed."

"i have no doubt that he does," he says, slightly pushing his knees up to his chest. "but i hope it has not lessened, for whatever reason."

"nothing has changed, damian—tim just had a way to get under his skin enough to convince him to come here."

dick immediately realized he might've slipped—the feeling only worsened when damian immediately looked over to him, with an expression he couldn't quite read.

"has drake upset him?" he instantly asked, dick raising his eyebrows nervously. "well no, not necessarily—"

"should i speak to him about this?"

"definitely not!" he spoke up, shaking his head. damian looked at him doubtfully, but decide to leave this conversation where it is.

"alright."

after a beat, dick began to stand up saying something about meaning to check in on tim after he's paid him a visit. he left the room with a quick i love you and shut the door behind him, leaving damian incredibly suspicious.

pennyworth the cat had finally risen from damian's bed, stretching before jumping down into his lap. damian starts petting him, the cat purring in response, leaning into the touch.

"what do you think, pennyworth?" he looks down at him, who's already looking back up at him. "drake must have something against todd that he does not want reaching anyone else. what do you think that is?"

pennyworth meowed back, damian humming.

"interesting theory."

when dick approaches tim's room, he finds the door wide open and the ceiling lamp off, leaving only the light of tim's personal computer on and illuminating his room just enough for dick to see his little brother snuggled up in his bed, getting some rest that was likely the result of his body giving out.

the several empty cans of zestis on his desk also helping him come to that conclusion.

this isn't unheard of from tim—staying up countless hours and fueling his body with energy drinks until they eventually have no effect on him anymore. that doesn't make it right, though.

so dick decides to leave, just talk to tim when he wakes up around dinner time.

as he's turning around, he hears a soft sigh from a now awake tim, the noise of his bed creaking following. "whatever happened to knocking, dick?"

the eldest froze in place. he turned back around, "sorry." was all he said as he turned on the light, tim shielding his eyes from the light before rubbing them. through squinted lids, he makes out his brother's silhouette—though he already knew who it was by his footsteps, this was just confirmation.

"where's jason?" he asked, voice hoarse with a hand still covering the light from his vision. "he's showing up later." dick replied, leaning on the doorframe.

"right," tim stretched before completely retreating back under his covers. "and .. why are you in my room?"

"just wanted to see how you were doing," he stands straight again. "and i see that you look like shit. get some more rest." tim groans and rolls his eyes as dick turns to walk out, heading down to the cave to help bruce as he said he would.

"okay, wow! close the door on your way out—and turn the light off, you ass." tim rolls over on his bed, closing his eyes as he hears the light switch flick and the door close. he was out within seconds.

the sun has set, and peter and jason are watching a movie on the couch. now that he's more comfortable around jason regarding his diet—as well as being told to 'help himself,'—they shared a bowl of popcorn, peter growing frustrated and tired with each writing mistake.

"this is seriously," he tosses a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "the worst thing i have ever watched."

"i did warn you," jason glanced over at peter, slightly amused at how displeased he was. "it's crazy how you've never seen this, it's notoriously known for being one of the shittiest movies ever produced."

quick, quick, quick—come up with a lie, he thought. or just an excuse—anything to not sound crazy?

"i—"

he was cut off by the sound of jason's phone alarm going off—saved by the bell.

it was now seven at night, the time jason had chosen to leave the house. "alright," he gets up from the couch, slightly stretching. "i'll see you tomorrow or later tonight—don't miss me too much."

"i'll try to contain my emotions," peter deadpans before smiling to himself, not taking his eyes off the television. jason catches it and just barely smirks as well before getting up to get dressed, leaving peter and dog in the living room. when he left, they exchanged quick goodbyes, the sound of the motorcycle peeling out the parking lot following not long after.

"well, dog," peter looks down at her, whom is already looking up at peter. "want to go on a walk later?"

when jason made it to the manor, damian was the one to open the door. there was the smallest shift in his expression, one which wouldn't have been caught if it wasn't jason who'd seen it.

"todd," he spoke. after a beat of silence, jason ruffled damian's hair, a small smile forming on jason's face. "dami," he greets back, the youngest slightly flush with embarrassment.

"come in. pennyworth has finished setting the table."

jason followed damian as if this were his first time in the manor. with the only noise being from door closing behind him, he realized how quiet it was. he couldn't help but wonder if it was because of him.

he pushed the feeling aside—just for it to return a moment later as he stepped into the dining room, the air becoming suffocating for jason. damian went to his seat, leaving jason standing alone, hesitant.

"hi little wing," dick welcomes him, jason taking note of the empty chair beside him. tim sat across from him, who looked like he hadn't properly slept in hours.

duke was sitting closest to where he was standing, a warm smile on his face—quiet, but warm. cassandra was silent next to bruce, quietly eyeing jason down as he stood awkwardly.

"jason," bruce finally spoke. the boy's eyes instinctively darted towards the source of the booming voice, jason feeling it as his expression softened for a moment before recollecting himself.

".. hi guys." jason finally spoke, shuffling over to the seat next to dick. he sat down, the silence that followed being absolutely deafening. no one knew what to say or do, not used to seeing jason at the dinner table.

tim looked over to him, his fork and knife working on his steak before taking a bite of his food. "how've you been?"

"fine," jason said, cut and dry. he began to eat himself, breaking the silence again. "anything change with you guys?"

damian was the first to speak. "i was made class president last tuesday." jason looked over to damian with raised eyebrows, who wasn't looking up from his plate. he wasn't surprised; the boy is incredibly smart and is fit for the part. "oh, good stuff, dami."

"your compliments are unnecessary, but do not go unappreciated," the youngest said, which is just damian for 'thank you.' the corner of jason's mouth twitched as he fought off a smile, taking a bite of his food.

he was still a bit full from the pizza he and peter had earlier, but had enough space for what was on his plate. he tried not to eat too fast, as he didn't want to make things weird by packing up and leaving so quickly.

tim's the next to speak. "been sticking my head into some new investigations recently," he pokes at his food, resting his head on his palm. he glances at dick, "not much progress, though."

strange, jason thought. but let's not jump to any conclusions.

"blüdhaven's been surprisingly tame these last few weeks," dick chimes in, having a drink of water. "been spending more time with the rest of the titans lately."

jason hums, nodding. "i assume you guys are doing well?"

"yep. just fine!"

"good to hear."

dick cleared his throat, taking the initiative for the conversation. "duke, what have you been up to?"

the boy blinked, instinctively glancing at tim, who was already looking at him, blankly yet knowingly. "uh—nothing much? just been .. patrolling, going to school, you know."

"i take it your patrols are going well?" jason asks this time, duke forcing a clueless smile.

"yeah! going fine."

tim mentally facepalms, continuing to eat his meal. jason nodded, continuing to eat. it's another uncomfortable silent moment that follows, interrupted by the occasional request to pass the salt and complaint from damian about chewing with their mouths open. it's not long before jason glances over to cassandra and bruce.

"what about you guys?" he asks, glancing at bruce then at cassandra. she stared blankly, then a warm look in her eye appeared as she thought over her words, "stephanie and i are together now."

jason's expression softens, a smile growing on his face. "really? happy for you guys," cass smiles in return. "thank you." she replies, going back to eating and quietly observing. jason looks at bruce, expecting a reply from him as well.

"the responsibilities of batman and bruce wayne keeping me busy." bruce responds.

"as per usual," jason follows up, with no animosity in his tone—simply unsurprised. "can't you give some of the work to lucius? take a bit off your plate?"

"i have," bruce looks up from his plate. "there's just .. so much to do. too much, and that goes for batman, too." in truth, bruce has already been stressed about his business affairs—and now, with this new drug taking over the streets? he's afraid he's bitten off more than he could chew.

"but we're not here to talk about work," a different voice from earlier piped up—it was tim. hos plate was half finished as he put down his fork and knife, resting both his hands on top of each other on the table. "what have you been up to, jason? besides your red hood activities?"

tim saw it there, his confirmation; that half-second freeze. jason knew he caught it, seeing that look in his eye when his target takes the bait.

dick held it together, calm and cool—but despite his efforts, the energy at the table very obviously shifted. tim's too much of a smart kid to be shooting himself in the foot like this. what is the point of doing this? at dinner ?

of course, jason isn't stupid—'ah, so he does know.'

he'd play along.

"nothing much. been with dog, working on the bike," he calmly spoke. "been thinking of getting a guitar, or something. the space feels empty."

"really?" tim props his elbows on the table, his fingers intertwined with one another in front of his mouth. "and here i thought our lives were boring outside of the superhero stuff. you really haven't gone out or anything? met people ?"

"you know i'm more of a homebody, timothy," jason's response is swift, though not fast enough to make it seem as if he's trying to shut the conversation down. dick is slightly uneasy while duke is trying his best to not seem like a deer in headlights.

tim looks at jason for a moment, then smiles. "you're right," he continues eating. he didn't bring it up any more after that.

apart from that painful exchange, the dinner goes by surprisingly well—although jason wasn't the most active in discussions, he was included. some laughs were shared, similar interests and memories revisited.

jason even stayed a while longer after he finished eating, just appreciating being in the presence of .. family.

family he'd missed.

then came that strange feeling in his chest—that almost of grief—knowing that once he leaves through that door, it'll be a while before a moment like this could happen again.

he couldn't quite explain the feeling; the feeling of wanting something so badly, yet not feeling ready or deserving of it yet, feeling as though you have not earned the right—and part of that feeling comes from the guilt of keeping bottled up resentment.

and it only got worse once he decided it was late enough and he needed to head back home.

"already?" dick sounded slightly disappointed, jason turning to face him. "have to go feed dog. don't want to leave her unattended for too long."

tim snorted, helping out with the dishes. "oh, i'm sure."

jason's eye twitched as he turned to tim, then back to dick. "i'll text you." he pats him on the shoulder before taking a deep breath and heading to bruce, who had already retreated to the living room.

he was on the sofa, the tv on but set to some random news outlet. he didn't look up until jason said his name, bruce muting the television. "yes?"

jason stood there, wearing that look damian does before he says or does something that he'll feel embarrassed about later on. but jason's grown—he can do this.

"this was .." he cleared his throat. "this was nice. thank you for having me over."

it was brief, but bruce smiled. he nodded, "of course. you're always welcome here." jason didn't smile, but he didn't scowl either—it was a strange in between though leaning towards warmth. "yeah. thanks, bruce."

"get home safe."

shortly after jason left, peter went on that walk he mentioned earlier with dog.

rather, it seemed like she was walking him.

it appeared that she and jason had an established walking route they went on each time he would take her out, and she had it instilled in her memory. she guided peter on their usual trail—mostly just circling around the block.

he took note of the different buildings there were nearby; there was a bodega—well, 'corner store,' here—not too far from jason's complex, as well as a gym across the street from it (probably where jason goes). there were a couple thrift stores as well as a small cinema, but besides that? all residential.

the block was alive—there were several people out, maybe some that weren't up to anything good—but until he had the suit again, it was out of peter's hands. he didn't want to expose himself as a meta, and also didn't want to interfere with this foreign timeline more than he already has.

hopefully there's a way to undo everything before he gets back.

— peter.

of course.

"what?" peter audibly responded for some reason, clearing his throat afterward out of embarrassment. he and dog turned a corner, passing some people who were seemingly asleep as well as others playing cards with illegal bets out, not even trying to hide the money. he made sure to pass them as quickly, should any trouble arise.

— take it a day at a time, will you?
stop trying to plan ahead.

how can you tell me to not try to plan my return to my home? are you nuts?

— i am all-knowing.

all-knowing.
who do i know that's all-knowing?

— .. for being such a genius, you sure are struggling with this, kid.

peter rolled his eyes, the leash in his hand going taut as dog took a stop to do her business. he stood and waited, the hairs on his back slightly standing up—a slight sense.

he quickly swept the area with his eyes, but didn't see anything or anyone. he brushed it off.

he and dog eventually circled back to the apartment, making it back indoors. he locked the door behind him and settled back in, refilling dog's water bowl. he stretched, giving in to the sudden urge to shower.

before that, he checked his phone for the time—it was nine. that walk was a good half-hour.

"alright, that shower."

he spent the rest of his time tonight making mental notes of the places he saw on his walk as well as scrolling through social medias, seeing if there was anything that'd keep him entertained while he waited for jason to get back home to the apartment, or until he eventually drifted off to sleep.

he wondered if jason had a good time, if he helped him make the right decision for him.

he also wondered if jason would get back tonight at all—wondered if he was going to go straight into his night activities instead.

peter wishes he could've stayed blissfully oblivious.

regardless, he wouldn't be awake to find out if he got back or not, having fallen asleep anyway. his phone was still in his hand with the screen on while he was nuzzled in his pillow, out entirely cold.

he didn't feel it when the front door opened and closed, nor did he hear the footsteps interrupt the stillness of the apartment. peter had left his room door open, not thinking he would fall asleep so early, jason taking it as an opportunity to check in on peter.

the light in his room was still on, the phone now being on the ground, his arm hanging off the side of the pullout sofa, his lashes slightly fluttering and eyebrows occasionally twitching—and there was that weird snoring noise again, except tonight, it was louder than before.

though still soft, the sound leaked into the hallway, having jason almost think that a cat made its way inside his apartment—that thought being what helped him realize that peter wasn't snoring, but purring. straight up purring, like a cat.

while it was unnatural, it was .. endearing. cute, almost.

he stood in the doorway looking into his room for longer than he'd like to admit, creeping even himself out. he turned off the light that peter forgot to, as well as closing the door to his room as quietly as he could. with that, he went into his room, deciding to also call it a night instead of patrolling.

it looked like peter was having a nice dream.
he felt as though he deserved one too.

Chapter Text

it's now been a little over a week since peter's crash landing in gotham.

things have been going smoothly, jason and peter falling into a newfound routine after peter started working—one heavy on mostly silent teamwork, yet they both committed to the unspoken agreement as they navigated the now shared space in a way that would work for the both of them.

besides their banter and peter's silly jokes, the mornings were mostly silent. there wasn't any small talk really left to be had, the both of them already covering the territory they felt comfortable. nothing but the noise of the coffee machine going accompanied by whatever would be on the stove at the time came from the kitchen before the afternoon rolled around, the two of them simply just co-existing in each other's space in silence.

and they were okay with that.

when peter would come back to the apartment after work, he'd more than likely have a new story lined up ready to share with jason over dinner, which he'd either already have prepared for when peter would get back or they would order out. the small gesture was one peter was fond of, always making sure to let jason know that he appreciated his efforts—on the other hand, jason wouldn't admit it, but this was one of the things he'd look forward to throughout the day. the nice conversation, the company during dinner—it was a change he grew to enjoy.

they both adapted to each other with ease, the day-to-day ritual nearly having them forget how it even came to be in the first place at times.

but they didn't mind.

tonight, when peter came back from a double, looked completely deflated .

he was slouched over as his head tilted to the side, his bag barely hanging onto his shoulder as his muscles slacked. his face had exhaustion painted all-over, his eyes carrying a heavy weight as his mouth formed a tired pout.

tonight, jason didn't feel up to cooking, so he decided to order takeout for them instead. he was sitting on the sofa with dog as peter walked through the door, jason's head only turning in the direction when he heard how peter's footsteps sounded heavier than usual—and then he saw the state he was in—entirely drained .

"are—"

"if i ever have a day like this one again," peter closed and locked the door behind him, almost forgetting to take his key out the lock. he dragged his hands down his face (yes, both) and took a deep breath. "i think i'd rather have you throw me off the roof ."

jason bit his lip, forcing down in an impulsive laugh as he paused what he was watching on the tv. he took a good look at peter, who looked like he was about to fall over. ".. i'm almost scared to ask."

"hold onto your question for after the shower," peter made his way towards his room, throwing his bag on his bed and kicking his boots off, grabbing his towel and a change of clothes on his way over to the bathroom. with a click, he closed the door behind him, jason resuming his show afterward.

he got through another ten minutes of it before peter joined him on the couch, bringing the scent of jason's shampoo with him. peter only now looked tired, completely worn out and looking just about ready to crash on this sofa.

jason paused the show again, peter stretching as he sat down, dog inviting herself onto his lap. ".. so ?"

peter winced as he finished his stretch, glancing at jason. he sighed dramatically, closing his eyes before going on his nightly work rant, today's topic being a rude customer.

jason found it amusing how wound up peter was, and made sure to listen intently. he cared about their conversations and their starters, even if it's peter going off about how an 'entitled piece of shit customer who thought they owned the place,' and how he just wanted to 'jump across that counter and throw them out the window in the literal sense.'

by the end of the rant, peter's face was red with rage, though the flush giving an opposite effect. jason, of course, sided with him (the guy peter described was indeed a total ass) and gave input of his own, peter relieved that he was understood and didn't just sound completely insane .

when the food got there, it became jason's turn to talk about his day, and it held a drastic difference from the day peter unfortunately had, the most eventful and out-of-routine part of it being that jason did laundry that day—despite the blandness of it, they still managed to create and hold a good conversation with that foundation with a good flow, it only really coming to a stop when the show that was idly running in the background of their discussion caught peter's attention, its plot getting good.

they continued to eat though in focused silence as they both fixed their attention on the television, the food eventually being cleared as well, jason getting up to throw the trash away. they both had many comments about the show, even occasionally pausing for brief discussions on theories (which peter mostly led).

the space between them on the couch slowly closed with each episode that went by, peter eventually lifting and pulling his legs close to his chest as well as jason moving his arm onto the backrest to create room for the other on the couch—neither of them said anything about the adjustment, but quietly kept to the topic of the show they were watching, leaving other unnecessary words unsaid.

though, things came to an indefinite pause when jason suddenly felt peter's head slowly sink onto his shoulder, the boy finally having succumbed to a day's exhaustion.

apart from the initial hitch in his breath and quick glance at the brunette, jason didn't dare to move. while part of the reason was due to the surprise of the shift, the other was the knowledge on how tired peter was, jason hating the idea of him being the reason he wakes up.

he took another look at peter, then sighed, defeated. he changed the show to a random movie to fill the noise. not really paying attention to it, he picked up his phone and began scrolling through it, inevitably falling asleep on the couch himself.

they were both woken up by the knock of the door.

jason is the one that jolts, while peter slowly stirs awake and pulls himself off of jason. they both quickly realized they slept that way through the entire night, but don't get the chance to get a word out before there's another knock, the pair looking at each other awkwardly before jason gets up without a word.

he approaches the door and looks through the peephole, surprised to see an interesting trio waiting for him to answer it—dick, tim, and .. zatanna ?—

"jason, open up! some of us have places to be!" dick mumbles, knocking on the door a third time. he rubs his eyes to make sure he's seeing this right—which he was—before opening the door. tim swirled his zesti can, zatanna's hands stayed in the pockets of her coat as her attention quickly shifted to jason's couch (rather the boy sitting on it with drool on his chin), and dick nervously shifted his weight, flashing an unsure smile at jason.

"hey, jay!" jason looked at dick as he greeted him, his gaze shifting then lingering on zatanna before he deadpans on tim, who simply nodded as he took a sip of his drink. "i'm here with zatanna and .. tim—he wasn't supposed to be here, but you know how hardly anything gets by him."

jason sighs, "right," he looks at zatanna again. "good morning. sorry to have to bother you like this."

"don't worry, it's no trouble," she shrugged him off, "i've been meaning to get to the source of this .. disruption since i felt it—may we?" she pointed into his apartment, jason stepping to the side in response. the three make their way inside, jason shutting the door behind them. peter quickly scooted to the farthest corner of the couch out of instinct.

his senses were telling him something—something about her .

it wasn't a spike, but more of a buzz in the back of his head—not an urgency, but a warning .

a similar buzz that he got when he first met strange.

this woman was magic , just like stephen.

peter noticed the two males as well, quickly recognizing one of them as the one who was in the family picture with jason, the one who was laughing with his arm around his shoulder. the other one looked shorter, younger, with an analytic gaze that sent a shiver down peter's spine.

he glanced at jason, who was already looking at him, nodding reassuringly. "peter," he spoke, the boy immediately humming in response, his eyes jumping around the room, not knowing who to look at. "this is .. zatanna. family friend, she's here to help you."

as she sat down next to him, she reached out with a gloved hand, smiling. peter anxiously smiled back, taking her hand and shaking it. "hello, zatanna. your name is .. different , it's cool—rolls off the tongue nicely," her grin widened, giggling lightly. "thank you, peter. it's nice meeting you."

"the short one is tim, my younger brother. i couldn't tell you why he's here," tim, who was sitting on the armchair across from peter, rolled his eyes in response as he finished his drink. "hello, peter."

"and that," jason glances at the taller male. "is richard, my oldest brother. he's the one that found you."

.. oh .

he nodded, standing beside tim. "i'm .. happy to see you're doing well, peter."

peter was initially quiet, before responding warily, ".. thank you .. richard ," he inhaled deeply. "and thank you for making sure i was okay."

"yeah! it's no trouble, really .." dick scratched the back of his neck, awkwardly, zatanna soon clearing her throat as she turned to face jason. "the door is locked, yes?" jason nods, zatanna turning back to face peter. she doesn't quite let go of his hand, giving him another look before closing her eyes, eyebrows furrowed.

the room is silent. the cat is definitely out the bag now—it's just a matter of how things will be handled after the whole truth is thrown in the open.

zatanna hummed, knowingly. "as i expected—you're .. misaligned ," she mumbles. she opens her eyes again, her gaze slowing making its way up to meet peter's. "you're the source of the energy shift. you aren't from here, peter." she looked at him, quietly waiting for a response—though peter doesn't give one. he can't .

he let out a breathy sigh, shaking his head.

".. you know this," she lets go of his hand. "yet you don't seem surprised that you're in such a situation."

peter shrugged. "not my first time dealing with inter-dimensional travel and the wonders of the fabric of spacetime?" he tried to joke, the memories of thanos and the infinity stones hitting him all at once—though no one laughed. zatanna was focused as she assessed peter, now aware of him being a discrepancy in their universe—meanwhile, the three brothers were in near-equal stages of shock.

zatanna purses her lips. "normally, when someone creates a rift between dimensions and walks through, their quantum bond may fluctuate, as well as their atoms' not resonating properly due to the fundamental forces in this universe not being identical to theirs," zatanna began to explain, not taking her eyes off of peter. "you should be dead , or unstable at the very least. though appearing to be like ours , your atomic structure is not designed for this world .. your very being should've unraveled by now being essentially unanchored to this world for over a week ."

she looked at him for a response, but peter, once again, remained silent—because he didn't have one.

she was right .

and peter knew she was.

".. or at least," she looked at him, unsure. "you should be unanchored."

then—like an answer to a prayer—a familiar golden spark appears beside peter, the small spark gradually growing until until a portal appears entirely. on the other side appeared a scene that he'd seen before, in his dream .

only now did peter realize where he was sitting then—he was in kamar-taj .

which meant that—

"that'd be my doing," a figure in a robe stepped out of the portal, the sparks disappearing as it closed behind him. peter looked up, his face contorting into one of disbelief as the figures voice was identical to that of the voice he'd been hearing in his head .

"alright, trans-dimensional wizard convention in my apartment, sweet!" jason exclaimed sarcastically. "what is going on?!—"

"— wong ?"

wong sighed, looking down at peter. "parker," he then looked over at zatanna. "sorceress supreme zatanna ."

".. sorcerer supreme wong," they greeted each other with mutual respect. the realization of the situation quickly dawned over zatanna as she connected the dots as to how peter was still in one piece, one set of questions getting their answer.

"i would've appreciated the heads up," she glanced at peter, who was still just blankly staring at the familiar sorcerer a few feet away from him. "an an explanation even more ."

wong cleared his throat. "my apologies, i should've done so," he patted down his robe, taking a deep breath as he glanced at peter again. "you too deserve some answers, peter."

"oh, you finally decided to grace me with clarity? because i too would love to know what's going on!" peter crossed his arms, wong sighing again, closing his eyes.

"this was done out of urgency , peter," he started. "you almost tore the universe apart. again ."

"tore the universe apart?" zatanna repeated.

"again ?" dick echoed.

peter furrowed his eyebrows. "what are you talking about? i don't mess around with—" he trailed off, recalling the events of the erasure . of strange's spell. of the time where he indeed did almost tear the universe apart.

".. okay, i wasn't the one who made the spell, okay?" he deflected, wong quickly rolling his eyes dismissively. "but .. what are you talking about?"

he took a deep breath. "when i returned from kamar-taj, i asked stephen what came out of your situation," wong crossed his arms. "and his response to me was ' who's peter ?'"

peter nodded along. "okay? the spell worked, did it not?"

"it would've," wong slightly paced, "except for the fact that you were not entirely forgotten. there was still a remnant of you—or, rather, someone who shared a remnant of you."

peter blinked, realizing what wong was trying to say, who he was trying to mention.

".. miles ."

"miles ," wong repeated. "he never forgot you. the spell remained incomplete, ineffective , which is why i was one of the very few who still had any recollection of you. it only shrunk the rift, not closed it—if no action was taken, it would open back up again, and the crisis would've resumed."

"you had to go, though now along with everyone who knew you as well," he explained. "and the safest and most familiar universe to bring you to was this one."

"wait," peter mumbled, stirring in his seat. "you said everyone who knew me is here too? does that mean that—"

"yes," wong cut him off. "miles is here . anyone who knew peter parker at the time is here , even if they newly met you after the spell."

peter felt his head begin to spin . miles was out there, alone, no clue on what was happening—and here was peter, with a roof over his head, a friend, a job—and he can't reach his friend.

"do you know where he is?" peter practically sprang up from his sitting position, now level height with wong, whose lips formed a line as he shook his head. "i do not, peter."

peter's chest stung as he sighed, running a hand through his hair. he took a shaky breath as he sat back down, face in his hands. zatanna hesitantly placed a hand on his back, moving it in circles.

"but he is okay. he is alive."

peter looked up, a glint of hope in his eyes before looking back down, nodding.

i'll find him.

"i see the circumstances that .. brought this situation, wong," zatanna spoke. "but .. i shouldn't have to worry about something similar happening here, right ?"

"no," wong and peter say in unison, though peter not saying anything else. "peter isn't a threat. that situation was .. a string of misfortunes—misfortunes that can't and wont follow him here."

zatanna nodded before rising from the sofa, clearing her throat as her shoes clacked on the hardwood floor. ".. thank you for the clarity, wong. safe travels back," as wong nodded, she turned to look at the three others, who were all sharing looks of disbelief and confusion. "this," zatanna signaled around her with her finger. "stays between us and no one else—especially not your father."

the three of them nodded silently, zatanna approaching the door. "i'll see you again, peter." and with that, she left, shutting the door behind her. peter glanced back at wong, who's attention was now set onto him.

"any more questions for me?" he asked. yes, peter had another question, but he's afraid he already got the answer—an answer he didn't like.

but, just to be sure.

he swallowed. "will i be able to go back?"

wong hesitated momentarily, that being all the confirmation peter needed.

"no, peter," he responded properly. "the first has been sealed. if you return, it opens again. you'll put the universe in danger again, and that is not a risk i'm willing to take."

peter nodded, biting his lip. "i understand."

— and for the other question,

wong's voice echoes in his head.

— you'll know when it's time.

peter quickly realizes that he's talking about his urge to go back to becoming spider-man. wong could tell how much the boy missed being spider-man, how much he needed it.

peter nodded slightly, wong re-opening the portal. "i must leave, i don't wish to overstay my welcome," he says, the portal now open in its entirely. "gentlemen."

the three of them hesitantly nod in response. peter remains on the couch, fighting back a pout. "goodbye, peter."

".. bye, wong."

he walked through the portal, it closing behind him with a spark. peter's hands drop to his sides with a clap as he turns to the direction of the three brothers a ways away from him, clicking his tongue. "surprise?"

no response.

"i'll .. answer any questions the best i can." peter continues, though the room feeling frozen as he spoke. the silence was loud, peter being able to hear all of their heartbeats—even dog's—in the stillness. jason approached them from next to the door, arms crossed, staring carefully.

he's the first to break the long silence.

"that explains why you've been lost beyond explanation since you got here," he slightly laughed to himself, dragging a hand down his face. "why you didn't know what gotham was, what metas were, who the bats were—have you straight up lied about anything you've said to me?"

".. no ?" peter answered, though unsure. "selective honesty, at most—but lying ? no, i don't think so—i've been in the dark as much as you."

jason nodded, cautiously.

tim tilted his head. "why were you injured when you got here? and why are you just casually friends with the sorcerer supreme of your universe and having his sorcerer friend cast spells for the world to forget you?"

peter swallowed hard, hesitating to answer that. he tapped his foot nervously, humming. "that's .. a conversation for another time."

"why?" tim pressed on. "hiding things isn't a good look for you after what just happened, petey ."

peter raised an eyebrow, opening his mouth to speak—

"he'll talk to us about it after he's ready," jason cut in. "you heard his sorcerer supreme—he isn't a threat. just leave that alone."

peter's surprised by jason jumping in to defend him, though doesn't relish in it for long as the gravity of the situation set in again.

jason groaned as the uneasy atmosphere. "you guys should go."

"i second this actually—tim," dick almost shot up, signaling for the youngest to do the same. tim rolled his eyes. "seriously ?"

"seriously ," dick glances at peter. "we should give him time to process."

peter scratched his thigh. "thanks," he looked away, uncomfortable. "be safe."

"we will, you too, peter." peter nodded, though not looking back. he heard as footsteps shuffled away towards the door, it opening and closing, the steps getting farther away—though jason didn't move.

he quietly stood there, before moving to the sofa.

"so," jason was calm. "miles. he your .. friend? brother? your kid ?"

".. a mix of all three, in a way?" peter scoffed, looking down at his knees. "a kid i really care about—and it's killing me knowing he's somewhere out there, also without a clue on what the hell is happening, and he probably doesn't have someone like i do."

jason was silent, patient—everyone else had done all the talking for the last half hour. he wanted peter to have the turn to finally speak.

".. i have to find him, jason." he finally looked up at jason, who simply nodded. "i know."

peter's worry was displayed on his face for jason to see. there was urgency in his gaze, desperation—miles must be really important to him.

"but .. i don't know where to start," peter dragged his hand down his face, his head ducking along with the movement. he leaned forward, his face in his hands. "this is all so, so fucked."

jason hummed, placing a hand on peter's shoulder. "you don't have to tell me anything now," he started. "but whenever you're ready to let me in on the rest, i'm here, and i'll try to help with anything i can—especially with miles."

peter weakly smiled in his palms. ".. thank you, jason."

"yeah .." he let go of peter's shoulder, a silence filling the room.

".. did you know you purr in your sleep?"

peter's head sprung up, jason watching peter's face redden in real time. he fails to fight off the smile creeping on to his face.

".. i .. you're joking ." peter mumbled, jason shaking his head in response. "it just gets worse! it actually just gets worse." peter throws his hands up in defeat, huffing as he ducks his head in embarrassment. jason laughs as he gets up from the sofa, approaching the kitchen.

"alright," he stretches before putting on his apron. "what are you feeling for breakfast? you seem to be in a scrambled egg mood, if you ask me,"

peter laughs quietly at the light jab. "another good read from you."

jason chuckles. "it's a gift ."

Chapter Text

when peter came to, it was to the impact of being thrown into a concrete wall, the cinder crumbling and morphing into his silhouette. he groaned from pain, his head hanging low, too weak to keep it up—amidst the ringing in his ears, he can hear the clanging of metal getting closer and closer as his vision slowly turned black.

one of his lenses was shattered, his eye peeking through the hole in the mask. his suit had been torn all over, streaks of crimson darkening the cloth around the tears.

and god, was there blood.

it came out a split on his forehead, the crack between his lips, out of his nose—it was nearly drowning him.

just as he began falling forward, he was pinned back up against the wall by a metal hand, though one of its claws pierced right through his side.

the spider cried out in pain, exhausted from the battle, now facing himself with a potentially life-ending injury. he clawed at the metal impaling him, keeping it there; it was the only thing preventing him from bleeding out over the pavement.

he heard mumbling, though too muffled and overpowered by the ringing in his ears for peter to make sense of any words spoken. he looked up to look at otto in his eyes, his unusual silence inciting pride in the scientist.

"i was able to render the spider silent?" peter could barely make out the words. "i must be good at what i do."

peter couldn't speak. all he could do was cough as he choked on the blood running down his throat, only making otto's grin grow wider—though it turned into a resentful scowl shortly after. "you ripped out one of my appendages, but i won't let you take another one. you will not stop me, not again."

as he remained pinned, peter regretted not waiting for miles. he underestimated the severity of the breach, and these are the consequences.

"it's the end of the line for you," otto got close to peter's ear, his voice taunting and soft. "don't worry, when the second spider-man gets here, you two will be reunited—i'll make sure of it."

he saw as peter's eyebrow twitched from the hole in his lens, getting a heavy laugh out of him.

then suddenly, his metal arm began to move.

peter groaned in pain as he tried his hardest to keep it in place, buy himself time for miles to get there—and despite having been beaten, he still put up a fight, causing otto to struggle.

and then he yanked.

the metal arm flew back, slightly pulling peter with it as it ripped back out of his abdomen, leaving the open wound gushing.

he was losing blood like a faucet.

he held a hand to his side in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but that only made him lose blood from the exit wound on his back.

he got one last look at otto and that smug grin on his face before he blacked out, landing on the remnants of the metal arm he'd torn off like dead weight.

he was sure this was it; there was no way out of this one.

the spider-man was dead.

..

then he woke up to a set of footsteps running in puddles.

a shadow of a man loomed over him, the only defining features from him being the glowing blue streak across his chest.

as his vision cleared slightly, he could make out his lips moving, though his eyes threatened to close again.

he knelt down closer upon seeing peter struggle to stay awake, the man now frantic—

"hey, stay with me kid—eyes open, alright? i'm going to take you to a hospital—"

"no!" peter urged, using the last bit of strength he could muster up to keep his identity secret. last he'd remembered he was in his suit, and he couldn't risk it—he just needed to get back to miles' and get patched up.

he just needed to make it.

he mumbled the address before he lost consciousness again, unable to stay awake this time.

..

the next time he woke up was in a cold sweat on a couch with a sharp inhale. he immediately sat up, getting a view of the outside—it was daytime.

before he could process his surroundings, he immediately felt a hand press down onto his chest, leading him back into a laying position. his head softly hit the cushion again, peter's hand reaching for the one on his chest.

he managed to grab the wrist of the foreign hand in an attempt to move it off him, but it was firm—he couldn't control the frantic breaths he took, tears welling up in his eyes from the suffocating sensation as he hyperventilated.

"breathe, peter," with that familiar voice making its way to his ears, he registered that it belonged to jason. the hand belonged to jason, he was on jason's couch in jason's apartment. he was not on r.a.f.t. nor on a rooftop.

what he'd just seen was a nightmare.

"slow down, you're gonna pass out if you keep breathing like that." jason urged him, yet kept his voice down as to not make him panic even more.

he slowly slowed down his breaths, air leaving and exiting his lungs through his mouth. jason's hand never left his chest, nor did peter's leave his wrist—this isn't the first time he's had another vivid nightmare, but it's the worst one he'd had since he'd arrived.

you'd think the pressure on his chest would worsen his breathing pattern—it instead provided peter with something to ground him, keep him aware and conscious. as peter could hear his loud heartbeat, jason could feel it as it slowed down, along with his chest heaving less and less.

"look—just a dream. you're in the apartment, no threats here. just us," jason lessened the weight on his hand, only letting it linger as peter's grip slowly weakened as the man calmed down.

"yeah," he exhaled. "just us."

jason sat down on the floor beside him, leaning on the couch as he crossed his legs. he was resting his arm on peter, hand still unmoving as the other boy's hand never left his wrist, still coming down from the panic.

he'd worked a double shift the day before, so when he got back to the apartment, he didn't even bother removing his uniform before crashing on the couch with nothing more than a 'hello' after walking through the door. this nap was his first real opportunity at resting, and his mind ruined it for him.

"are you okay?" jason finally asked, head leaning against peter's leg. "that one was, like, significantly worse than the others."

peter looked over and smiled weakly, scoffing. jason furrowed his eyebrows, still waiting for a response from the other male.

after the intervention, he and peter had grown to be good friends. jason helped him get his legal affairs in order, pulling some strings that peter didn't dare ask about to maintain the peace. they've developed a strong bond, the both of them trusting each other enough to open up about their lives more—but nothing too revealing, of course.

limits.

"yeah, just .." his voice was hoarse. he cleared his throat as he tilted his head back to lay flat, staring at the blank ceiling. "this one felt more real. like i was there, you know? it's almost like i can feel the pain from it."

with the lingering silence that followed, peter made a realization he was surprised he hadn't picked up on earlier.

when he blacked out in front of otto, he was in his suit.

when he properly came-to, he was in other clothes.

his heart harshly skipped a beat, jason feeling it against his palm. he straightened his posture, more alert. "you good?"

"yeah! yeah, just still thinking about it," selective honesty, not inherently wrong. he straightened up on the couch himself, finally letting go of jason's wrist to run a hand through his hair, scanning the room for his phone.

he needed to talk to richard.

"do you think .." he looked over at towards the kitchen, not spotting his phone there either. "that richard is busy right now?"

jason raised an eyebrow. "probably at work, why?"

"i need to ask him something. about the night he found me."

"that's what your nightmare was about?" jason perked up, both more interested and concerned. peter looked at him, slight urgency in his eyes.

"i'll .. see if i can get a hold of him," jason pulled his phone out his pocket and began dialing dick's number. they thought it'd ring forever with the time it took for him to pick up. jason put him on speaker.

"hello?" a voice rang through the phone.

"dick," jason responded.

"little wing, what's up?" dick quickly followed. "i'm on my break, you have me for like—ten minutes."

"when are you free? peter needs to talk to you about something," jason glanced over at peter, who was rubbing his eyes as he slightly slouched over. "hey, richard—that's accurate, i do need to talk to you."

dick was silent on the other line for a moment, presumably running through his agenda for the week. "i can do tonight, actually," he mumbled into the microphone. "though i might have to stay the night. that fine?"

jason grumbled, pinching his nose. "impromptu sleepover? i don't hate it—" peter chirped up. jason's head snapped back up, shooting peter a disapproving look. "—buut it is your place so you make the choice, of course." he scratched his nape, awkwardly smiling as jason sighed.

"sure, you can sleep over," jason exhaled as dick laughed on the other line.

"nice!" he said, his smile able to be heard. "i'll see you two later, i'm going to enjoy my break now. bye!"

peter and jason both said goodbyes of their own before he hung up. jason got up and stretched, looking back down at peter. "look through restaurants around here, you're in charge of what we eat tonight," he commented. "don't pick something stupid, please—i'm starving."

"oh, i'm going to pick something atrocious just because you said that," jason rolled his eyes as he walked off to his room, the exchange getting a small laugh out of peter.

he'd be looking forward to getting his answers tonight, but one thing's for sure though—he had to have traveled here in his suit. it was here somewhere, and he had to find it before anyone else does.

hopefully no one else had already.

he turned the television on for some noise, laying in the sofa as he drifted off once again—though wong's voice came through just as rest took him under.

— once you find it, it'll all in your hands from there.

batkids 🦇

Today, 16:26

Tim

guys tap in to the chat this is important

Duke

there is just no way you're bringing this here.

Tim

it's important.

Steph

tim's at this lunch table typing aggressively on his phone after he and duke were arguing for 5 minutes now

Damian

Do you all not value your education?

Damian

Not involving you, akhi.

Jason

I HAVENT WVEN SAID ANYTHING

Duke

im crying he really said fuck you

Steph

dami we are at lunch💗as i said

Cass

you all made me have to turn my phone vibration off

Dick

I HAVE FIVE MINUTES LEFT OF MY BREAK WHAT DO YOU GUYS WANT ACTUALLY

Tim

now that we're all here

Tim

i need to know who's side you're on.

Jason

???

Tim

me or duke's.

Duke

tim you doing too much omg

Duke

he's doing all this because he wants to know if you guys count a blt as a sandwich.

Tim

(spoiler: it's not)

Steph

Dick

oh this is easy

Damian

It is not a sandwich.

Dick

it’s a sandwich

...

Damian

...

You absolute imbecile.

Dick

HELLO??

Tim

IJBOL

Duke

LMFDAOOOOO

Jason

For something to qualify as a sandwich it needs to have a sufficient amount of meat to accompany the toppings, like a burger or a hoagie. Bacon is a complementary meat, a topping just like the lettuce and tomato. It's an insult to call such a thing a sandwich

Steph

we got the damn sandwich scientist over here

Jason

What can I say

I'm a professional

Damian

Todd is correct. A BLT is merely toppings between two slices of bread.

Duke

thATS THE LITERAL DEFINITION OF A SANDWICH

Tim

so if i put pickes onions and cheese in between two slices of bread

that counts as a sandwich to you.

Dick

WELL OBVIOUSLY NOT

you ned meat for a sandwich

hence the bacon 😌

Jason

So you're saying BACON completes a sandwich as much as slices of ham do..?

Duke

well yes!

just put a lot of bacon strips until its enough for you

Tim

this fucking guy omg

Damian

It lacks the core ingredient of a sandwich.

Dick

THE CORE INGREDIENT IS THE BACON

Damian

It's not.

Dick

YES IT IS

Damian

No, it's not.

Cass

i think they are a sandwich but it lacks so much for a sandwich that many don't count it as such

Steph

YES i agree

Cass

thank you steph ^_^

Steph

whatever you say mama 🤤

Duke

omg

okay so then what do we think of grilled cheese??

Tim

ikyfl

Jason

Even less of a damn sandwich.

Dick

it's lowkey a sandwich idk guys

Tim

ragebait used to be believable

Damian

You think to ask me this after you learn my stance on the BLT?

That is one of the most bland 'meals' I've ever heard of.

Tim

BLT vs grilled cheese in the "i swear im a sandwich" olympics

WHO WILL WIN??

Dick

you guys lost your whimsy. grilled cheese can be considered a sandwich

Tim

someone kick this man i'm so serious

Duke

DON'T LET THEM SILENCE YOU D I'M WITH YOU

Tim

DUKE

SYBAU

Jason

Only that duo would spam the gc to argue

Damian

As I said, imbeciles.

Dick

you said that about me baby wing 🙁

Damian

Correct.

It just applies to Thomas and Drake as well.

Jason

Dams

You forgot to get me my copy of your drawing from like

a few months ago

Damian

Oh.

I didn't think you still wanted it.

Jason

I'm just forgetful as hell

Next time I see you?

Damian

Perhaps.

Dick

i have to get back to work

thanks for wasting my break guys.

Jason

No one forced you into the conversation dick

Dick

yeah whatever see you tonight

Damian

You two are spending time together?

Jason

Yeah he's sleeping over

Damian

I see.

Make an attempt to not fight.

Jason

Us? Fight? Never

Damian

..

Of course.

Jason

Where'd everyone else go??

Steph

they took the argument away from the screens

now they're fighting over whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza

Cass

jason smirked as he clicked his phone off, turning his computer on. he booted it into the same system the batcomputer uses to access his case files related to gotham's new drug problem.

over the last two months, its spiraled out of control.

the amount of drug overdoses spiked, drug-related murders and assaults—though despite this, the usage continued at a stable pace, the deaths not discouraging consumers and keeping whoever is behind this in business.

whoever was behind this always seemed to know exactly how the vigilantes would move—this wasn't sionis, the neon dragons, cosa nostra, at least not them alone—it was something new, something having started from the ground up.

and their existence only proved rookie doesn't equal novice.

this person—or group—knows their stuff. they're clean, quiet, quick, and always a step ahead. this is a tough job to pull off, likely going to be weeks before they get a solid lead.

if tim drake is having problems catching a tail, we should all be worried.

jason reviewed the files, adding his own findings to the preexisting notes as well as go over everything that was added by the rest of the family.

as far as information on the dealers? resellers claim they're entirely anonymous.

prominent locations? started at crime alley, and it has rapidly bled into the rest of gotham over the last few months.

their only newer and bigger break came from another failed stakeout; they thoroughly searched the now empty warehouse for any remnants that could've been left unaccounted for, the bats not discovering a trail but a small sample of the drug.

it was a pink powder packed in the tiniest zip bag. the number '1' was written in marker on the plastic—is this the single dose for a human? no wonder there have been so many overdoses.

"how strong is this stuff?" jason muttered, expanding the document on the sample testing. there tim and bruce left several notes, as well as diagrams of the chemical compounds of the dahlia.

from what bruce and tim had gathered, pink dahlia appeared to be a new strain of phencyclidine—or pcp. one that will bring those who ingest it to a stronger and quicker high that would lead to a crash that's just as strong.

final ingredient? the dried dahlia petals that gave the powder its pink hue.

"you've got jokes, i'll give you that much," he mumbled, closing the documents before booting his computer into his normal operating system. he leaned back in his chair, debating whether or not he'd go on patrol later that night.

it didn't take long for him to find himself on his bed, a slight breeze sneaking through the small crack of the window as he drifted off.

peter tried to fall back asleep, he really did.

but the thought of his suit being out there somewhere disturbed his thought far too much for him to get any more rest—even more the idea of dick having to change him out of his suit to help him.

but if that was the case, why hadn't he said anything?

it didn't make any sense.

yet, neither did him appearing with his new york state i.d. on him. he never carries it around as spider-man, for reasons he feels are quite obvious.

peter could hear how jason's breath steadied, how it was slow, lazy, with his heartbeat going off a similar rhythm. it didn't take a genius to assume he was asleep himself.

the man found himself deep in thought, his future here being unpredictable.

everyone who'd ever been close to him in his life had found out about his double life eventually.

if he were to take up the mantle again, he was unsure if he wanted to stick around jason long enough for him to follow suit.

even though peter knows he'd likely have no issue with it, as he's still standing by him even after learning that he's from a different dimension, he still didn't want to drag him into that part of his life.

all the people he'd let in to that side would always end up hurt—or worse.

and then there was miles.

he wasn't even sure if the kid was alive. for all he knows, he could be searching for a corpse of the boy.

how could he be able to live with himself after that?

peter groaned, his thoughts becoming too loud in his head. he turned the television on, zoning out to whatever was playing on the screen. he didn't bother choosing anything specific, not quite paying attention. he lowered the volume just enough to where the noise wasn't too loud, and his eyes eventually gave out.

the mumbling from the tv speakers and the soft snoring from his roommate was enough to quiet the noise in his head, allowing the male some sleep—this time, surprisingly peaceful.

peter shot up from the couch from the sudden knock on the door. he looked out the window—it was dusk, the pulled curtains giving him a clear view of the starless sky.

before he could get up, he saw that jason was already on his way to the door, turning the knob to reveal—richard, standing in the doorway with his hair slightly messy and a bag.

"jaybird," he smiled at jason before glancing behind him, locking eyes with the other in the space. "hey, peter!"

peter stretched, his eyes tightly shut. "hey, richard," he replied. he rubbed his eyes as he sat up properly on the sofa. "you fancy pizza? or are you like jason and swear on burgers?"

dick walked inside, jason shutting the door behind him with a huff. "you can't go wrong with pizza," he sets his bag down on the dinner table before walking over to and sitting on the armchair. "yeah, i could get down with some pizza. you okay?" he furrowed his eyebrows, smile unwavering.

"oh, yeah, just took a nap. why? don't tell me my wake-up glow is lacking," peter joked as he ran a hand through his hair. dick let out a laugh as jason sat down next to peter, silently picking up the remote. "oh, of course not."

dog eventually came over from jason's room and immediately went to greet grayson, the man beginning to play with her in a heartbeat.

"who's a good girl?" he cooed at her, jason rolling his eyes in response. "you missed me? i know you have—i take it your dad's been boring?" peter snorted at the joke when jason's arm that was holding the remote dropped to his side, the other man sighing as he turned to face dick.

"what is it with you and peter and wanting to steal my dog?" he crossed his arms, glancing between his brother and the other man sitting beside him—who also threw his hands up defensively—"don't throw me into this, jason. it's not our fault she's adorable."

the night continued, the pizzas being on the way while peter and jason caught dick up to speed, taking their time before they dove into the actual topic at hand. he and peter got along surprisingly well, though jason could see it coming as the boy reminded him of his brother in many ways.

when peter heard that he used to be an acrobat? he was enthralled. he was surprised to hear that he'd given it up despite how much he clearly loved the art. when asked, he didn't do into detail as to why he quit, and peter respected that.

dick was also made aware of peter's .. eating habits. he had a similar reaction as jason did when he told him, which peter had already expected. he was overall very calm and casual, treating peter as if he were a longtime friend, to which peter returned the sentiment.

"i hope my brother hasn't been a nuisance?" dick's tone was playful and sarcastic, though jason sighed dramatically as he sunk into the couch. "dick, you serious? i think i'm probably the best roommate this guy's ever had."

"i actually agree with him," peter glanced at jason a second, who just gave a satisfied smirk and a knowing nod. "see?"

"so the bar must be in hell," dick joked, shrugging as he crossed his arms with a playful grin.

"really? have you ever heard of a roommate still keeping you around after learning you're from another dimension and also went out of their way to have your documents forged?" jason raised an eyebrow, peter snorting at the way he worded the situation—but it was true. jason had been a saint to him, being more generous than peter had ever seen from a stranger.

looking back, it was sort of absurd. did he do it from a place of sincerity? it seemed like it—but people are unpredictable. the thought of jason still having some kind of ulterior motive still lingered in the back of his mind, clawing at him occasionally.

and it didn't help that he still noticed how jason would leave some nights.

peter never forgot—if anything, he noticed it was happening more often, as well as for longer durations.

there would be mornings where jason wouldn't be in the kitchen as normal, meaning he'd either slept in or he hadn't gotten back to the apartment yet. regardless, with each night he spends in the streets, the more his body appears to give out.

it shows very clearly on his face in the morning when peter would get ready for work—the fatigue. he never questioned it, never gave any inkling of catching onto it, and didn't treat him any differently. who was he to judge? he had done the same thing, and would likely be returning to that same routine fairly soon.

"about that," peter scratched his neck. a strange silence dawned upon the room as the small talk period had come to an end, peter being the one to step in. "i have something to ask you, richard,"

"you're probably the second person in my life to consistently call me by my first name," he points out. "what's up?"

peter clears his throat. don't sound too freaked out, it's fine.

"when you found me," peter leaned back. "what was i wearing? because, you know, the clothes i ended up waking up in weren't screaming 'i was almost stabbed to death.'"

peter listened closely for any fluctuation in dick's heart beat—one that would typically indicate that the subject was about to lie—but there was none. he was perfectly calm.

whatever he was going to say would be the truth.

"you were in a torn white tee, completely bloodied up," dick recalls. "you had a red flannel on as well, you were also wearing some baggy jeans—no shoes, though. seems like you lost them in your .. journey here."

so he wasn't in the suit.

was it back at home?

— no.

sometimes i forget you can hear my inner monologues—but thanks, wong.

— yep.

"oh, okay," peter is satisfied with the response, but dick wanted answers of his own. "was that what you wanted to talk about?"

"one of the things," peter responded, staying level-headed. there was something else that scratched at his head, though—what was he doing up there? was he the man with the blue light across his chest? or did he find him afterward?

"how did you find me?"

peter heard it that time—the stutter in his heartbeat. but he didn't show any shift in his expression, remaining entirely grounded.

"i was on the rooftop of my apartment building, picking off the laundry that i left drying out to get it out the rain and throw it back in the washer. i heard this loud crash and went to check it out—and then i saw you." he explained swiftly. the response felt rehearsed but it flowed off his tongue naturally, the confidence in his voice being enough to drive away any sort of suspicion from himself—but to peter and his super-hearing? that wouldn't fly.

peter didn't hesitate. "oh, okay—oh, you had to throw all the clothes back into the washer, didn't you?" dick shrugged, feigning disappointment.

"yep. and detergent is really expensive! seriously—" interrupting grayson came a knock at the door. jason got up to get it, and surely enough, it was the pizzas.

they began eating and continued talking, music from jason's playlist now coming out of the speakers. it wasn't so loud that it'd overpower their voices, but loud enough to add some background noise that isn't traffic and sirens.

"jay," dick speaks, mouth full but he covers it with his mouth. jason hums in response, the other brother swallowing his food before following up. "you have ice cream in the freezer?"

"nope," jason finishes his slice. "haven't gone out for groceries yet. and even if we did have some, it wouldn't be that crime of a flavor that you always reach for."

peter continued to eat in silence, though his ears perked up when he heard the word we.

sure, he had been staying with jason for almost three months now, but he'd always thought of the apartment and everything in it as jason's. peter's name wasn't on the lease, nor did he help with the rent, despite that being a part of the original plan (jason insisted he take care of it, leaving only the shopping to peter).

the word implied that it was also his—that it was theirs.

it was the way he said it, too—casual but definitive. like that was something jason was sure about, that he fully believed. they didn't talk about much regarding the living situation after the intervention, jason only saying, "you can stay for as long as you'd like to."

it was .. weird. weird, but comforting. comforting knowing that he wasn't alone in this situation, this world—knowing he had someone to lean on.

while having his small revelation, peter was nudged on the side by an elbow—"peter, you good?"

"huh?" the guy almost yelped, jerking back instinctively. it was just jason, of course, peter exhaling an apology as dick laughed at the exchange.

"that double shift really messed with you. take a day off, i'm serious," and jason, was in fact serious, his face and voice stoic, though peter could see the slight concern in his eyes. peter waved him off, "i'm fine, i just zoned out. i've worked doubles before, this is nothing,"

"now, jason, don't mother the guy," dick interjected, reaching for his final slice for the night. jason rolled his eyes, throwing one hand up while the other drove the pizza crust into his mouth. "was just saying."

"is he often like that?" jason's eyes quickly darted to peter, who returned his gaze as he tried not to laugh. dick took that as confirmation, him being the one to burst into laughter. "really! i didn't know you had it in you, jason—normally i'm the one parenting,"

"i don't treat him how you treat damian, dick. i just make sure he's alive. functioning if i'm in a good mood." jason immediately got defensive, dick laughing to himself after getting a reaction.

"damian? is he your son?" peter absentmindedly asked. "he isn't but he might as well be," jason responded for dick, who simply shrugged as he kept chewing. "dames is the youngest brother i told you about, the 'blood son,'" he threw up air quotes for the last bit, dick snorting at what sounded like an inside joke.

"oh, the one that likes drawing?" peter asked, the two brothers nodding, jason's hum accompanying it.

"you know," he swallowed the last bit of his slice. "i think the demon spawn would like you. i'll introduce you," jason paused as he pursed his lip, before grabbing another slice of pizza. "probably."

"sweet," he leans into the sofa. "while we're on the topic of your absurdly large family—is tim still .. being weird about me?"

he's been compiling a file on you over the last 50 days, is what jason wanted to blurt out. instead, dick decides to be the one to respond. "he's weird about everyone at first," he shrugs, peter finding his words to be the truth. "he'll come around, trust me."

they eventually decided to turn a movie on, the conversation still flowing well and at a good pace—though, peter began to fall behind soon enough. he's tired, way too tired—his body is starting to betray him.

just as he feels himself begin to fall asleep, jason wakes him up.

"dude, you're passing out," he puts a hand on his shoulder. "you should shower and get in bed."

peter mumbled something as a form of contest as jason helped him up and walked him into the bathroom, fetching him a towel and closing the door behind him. "yeah, yeah—goodnight."

peter falling asleep in front of his brother wasn't his concern, and neither was the potential of him to end up with his head on his shoulder again, no—it was him purring that was the problem.

well, not a problem, but something jason wanted to avoid leaking to his brother.

the more tired peter is, the louder he purrs in his sleep—jason's never asked for the reason, nor has peter ever talked about the sleeping habit and why it occurs; all he knows is that it means peter's resting.

and while peter's gotten more comfortable with the habit around his roommate as time went on, jason still remembers the sheer embarrassment and borderline panic peter expressed when he told him about it.

he could only imagine how he'd react if dick heard him.

when the movie ended, dick stretched in the armchair. "patrolling tonight?"

"eh, don't think so," jason stretched as well, a yawn following. "was thinking of staying up and looking more into the dahlia cases, see if there are any connections we missed."

"knock yourself out," dick yawned as well. "i'll stick around for breakfast, but after that i have to take off,"

jason nodded, getting up from his sofa. "figured. i'll shower first,"

"right," dick got up and headed to jason's room. "can i borrow your clothes? i accidentally only brought what i was going to wear tomorrow," jason grumbled, but agreed to let him wear his clothes to sleep nonetheless.

tonight, he brought out his reading glasses.

he'd be staring at this screen awhile.

tonight, peter wanted to be in kamar taj.

and wong happily granted his wish.

peter opened his eyes, finding himself in the similar robe he'd be in whenever he'd have these 'dreams.' wong stood in front of him, his hands returning to a resting position as he finished whatever spell he'd cast to bring himself here—or take peter there.

"you called?" wong questioned. "subconsciously? i take it this has to do with your conversation with richard," peter slowly nodded, silently as he thought it over.

"i .. wasn't in my suit," peter picked at the cloth over his thighs. "but you said it was here,"

"correct," wong nodded his head. "it will find you soon, when the time is right."

"and how will i know when that time comes?"

"you wont," wong simply answered, too quick for peter to even think that he was uncertain. "the time will find you—just remember to look."

wong began to cast another spell, peter hearing his voice again, louder this time around, as well as it sounding like he was surrounded.

— now for the love of everything that is good, get some sleep, kid.

and sleep he did.

Chapter Text

the next morning, peter slept through his alarm.

he was late for work—so late that he shouldn't even bother going in today.

he stirred, hearing slightly muffled voices coming from what he believed to be the kitchen—he attempted to focus, listening into the conversation jason and dick were having, the sound eventually being clear.

"no, i think i'm going to hang out with the kid today," he could hear jason saying before a crunch—toast, maybe?

"i haven't seen him in a while, and i feel like i owe him some big brother time," as jason spoke, dick hummed, appearing to also have food in his mouth in the moment.

there was a brief pause that followed, peter stretching in his bed as he barely managed to keep his eyes open. as the tension left his limbs, he realized just how much he missed doing his spider-things.

he missed hanging or walking upside down, missed making hammocks or small nests out of his web fluid on higher ceilings—he would sometimes try to stick to things in the office just to check that he was still—well, him.

it felt so unnatural being less spider than man—normally, those two weren't too far off from being equal parts of him.

"he misses you, you know," he could hear dick's voice slightly echo, although he tried to keep it down. "you could pick him up from school today, hang out with him afterwards."

"dames hates my bike," jason immediately retorts, richard laughing in response. "he does not, trust me."

jason cleared his throat, "okay, sure. i'll pick the kid up, probably take him out for ice cream or something .." he trailed off momentarily. "oh! i'll take him to a cat cafe?—i don't know, i'll figure it out later,"

peter quietly laughed to himself, rolling over to check his phone. a few texts from his manager were the first notifications to show themselves, peter quickly responding with an '"i'm sick, i'll come in tomorrow."

and almost as if in sync with the moment he tapped his first social media app, richard proceeded to speak:

"apparently, there was a robbery last night at the art museum."

this piqued peter's interest; he began scrolling, and surely enough, there were tons of posts and headlines about said robbery, in which the thieves likely made it out with approximately five hundred million in art pieces.

it was large-scale, clean, perfectly planned.

how did the bats not catch them?

"another catwoman hit?" jason asked. peter stuttered a second, freezing momentarily before proceeding to scroll. the name surprised him, not expecting there to be a parallel to felicia in this universe. he wonders if their attire is similar, too.

he hopes she's okay.

"appears to be," dick continued. "but she must've had help this time around. there was a lot stolen, too much for one person to make it out with in a small amount of time."

"is that why they didn't get to get in time?" jason asked. it was silent afterward, though peter heard a shift in seating.

"two minutes. all it took for them to leave with all they stole," peter's eyes widened. whoever this catwoman is—she's good.

too good.

"record timing, even for her. i don't think she was working alone." dick finished his theory, jason not quite responding, but rather acknowledging his words and proceeding to process them.

"huh," was all he said before peter's door opened, the male sluggishly walking out of his room, phone in hand. the brothers looked over at him, jason nodding in his direction while dick gave a warm smile. "you finally decide to join us, sleeping beauty?" dick asked, peter just making a hoarse noise in response before entering the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"i take it you called out?" jason could be heard asking peter from the kitchen. he mumbled something incoherent while brushing his teeth, not really caring to make any sense in the first ten minutes of being awake. jason just lightly laughed, "right."

peter finished brushing and rinsed his mouth. "unprecedented. i slept through my alarm," he walked out the bathroom as he stretched his arms, his tee riding up slightly, but just enough for the brothers to get a glimpse of where peter had been injured when he was first found.

it's as if he were never injured to begin with.

"healed up nicely, i see," dick commented, eyebrow raised doubtfully. he'd expected at the very least a gash, or a raised scar—but instead, there was nothing. the area was entirely flat, not a single mark in sight. peter mentally stuttered for a second, entirely sure that he had told them about this part of his abilities—at the very least, jason. "too nicely, if you ask me."

"ah—yeah," he tugs his shirt back down as he skids over to the kitchen counter to grab his share of the breakfast jason had prepared. "i regenerate really well, it's rare i ever scar," he adds food onto his plate. "and the few times i do, they clear up in a month or two. i thought i mentioned this?"

dick raised his eyebrows, jason seemingly unfazed. "not to dick," he spoke, patting on the chair next to him for peter to sit. he sat down, continued to eat while dick silently sat across from them. "sleep well?"

peter looked, well, like shit. his hair was still a mess, eyes only cracked open, with the area around them slightly rosy. "something like that," he began to eat, the three of them easing into small conversation before dick eventually got up to leave for work, leaving the apartment to jason and peter again.

"i was thinking i do groceries today," peter mentioned, already almost done with his food. "the fridge is starting to look like we're broke college students, and i don't need a reminder of that period in my life."

jason chuckled. "knock yourself out," he stretched, reaching dor his phone to check the time—damian should be getting out of school within the hour. "i was going to spend the day with damian, pick him up from school and take him out for the day."

"oh, that's works out," peter said, pretending as if he didn't listen in on the conversation from earlier. "hope you have fun. my morning boot isn't complete yet, so i'll probably lay around for another half hour before i decide to get ready."

"sounds good," jason gets up with a tired grunt, picking up his keys, jacket and bike helmet before heading for the door. "just make sure to lock up before you leave."

"how could i forget?" peter sarcastically responded, looking up from his now empty plate. jason shrugged, "wouldn't be the first time you've had memory loss."

peter rolled his eyes, shooing him away as he got up, dishes in hand. "don't crash the bike, jason."

peter was very productive over the next few hours.

it wouldn't be an entire afternoon of running errands—at least he'd hoped—he was really going out to do groceries, pay off his phone bill and card, maybe do some shopping for himself as well.

nothing too crazy.

paying off his bills went smoothly, only leaving him with that gigantic grocery list to go through and purchase. the grocery store he'd normally go to was currently closed after a recent robbery had wrecked the place, forcing peter to catch a bus to newtown to shop.

he didn't frequently make this trip, not seeing a reason to so long as the store near him and jason was open—but on the rare occasions where it wasn't, newtown grocery was the second best thing that was in a reasonable distance.

after a few minutes of roaming the giant grocery store, peter made it to a section where jason had written a note on the side of the list—only thing was, peter couldn't read the handwriting to save his life.

which was confusing, as the man's handwriting was always at the very least legible. it appears that he was in some sort of rush at the time of adding the note, making it nearly impossible to tell what it was he was trying to say.

"struggling?"

a voice perked up behind him. it didn't startle him, his senses already having alerted him of someone approaching him—it was the who which surprised him.

it was tim.

peter blinked. "yeah .. quite a bit. do you know how to read jason's handwriting when it looks like he has nerve damage?" his attention goes back to the sheet, not letting the boy's piercing gaze faze him.

tim stared in a way that told peter he was looking for something, though it not being a look of aggression; just cold, analytic curiosity.

then peter glanced back. he noticed a few things about tim: how blue his eyes were, the moles on his face, and a scar in the dead center of his neck. what could that have been from?

is it just common for everyone in this family to have scars?

he didn't say anything at first, mainly scanning peter's expression. "he'd left enough angry sticky notes on my desk and the fridge for me to learn to read it," he commented, swirling his can of zesti. peter glanced at the drink in his hand, his eyebrows curling. "what?"

"each time i've seen you, you're drinking that," he points down at tim's drink, who was furrowing his eyebrows. "do you drink anything other than caffeinated battery acid?"

the corner of tim's mouth twitched. "of course i do. i just have a can or two only when i need it," he shrugged. "which happens to be quite often."

peter glanced at the grocery list again. "explains the eye bags on you each time i've seen you," peter mumbled, tim squinting his eyes.

"liking gotham?" tim asked, taking a swig of the energy drink. peter pursed his lips, squinting his eyes this time as he stared at the grocery list again—seriously, what the hell did this guy write?

"it definitely has its .. charm .." peter replied, though his voice lacking confidence. "the prominent overcast really just .. really adds to the atmosphere—and interactions like this? it brings life to my day,"

tim hummed, finishing his zesti. he looked at peter a second longer, looking to be shuffling through the list of questions he wanted to ask him.

he was expecting something about the day wong stopped by, maybe a question about why he wanted to be forgotten—or maybe ask why this 'miles' was tethered to him in a way that would prevent him from being so.

though he wasn't expecting tim to ask about his living situation with his brother.

"and jason?" he asked. he was surprised until he realized that it'd be ridiculous for tim to interrogate him about his past in public.

"what about him?" peter glanced back at tim, eyebrow raised. tim cocked his head, expression doubtful. "how's it like living with him?" tim clarified, leaning on the shelves next to them.

peter briefly broke eye contact, thinking about how to respond. "it's .. nice? good friend and roommate, we're pretty stable. my only complaint comes from his hour-long showers, but he's the one who pays the water bill, so not my problem."

tim's eyebrows slightly raise. "he pays the bills? what do you do then?"

peter looked back, slightly offended. "i do pay bills, thank you," peter crosses his arms. just not the apartment bills, he wanted to add, but he doesn't have to know that. "but i have a question for you, tim—why are you here interrogating me? shouldn't you be doing .. i don't know, homework right now?"

tim rolled his eyes. "not sure why you would assume my responsibilities haven't been dealt with already," he mumbled, sucking in a breath afterward. "i just wanted to talk. i don't see you around much," maybe not as tim drake, but as red robin? he's made some observations. "besides, you're living with my brother, and i worry about his safety."

"right," peter hummed doubtfully. "and the verdict?"

tim squinted his eyes. "undecided," peter watched as tim's eyes wandered across his face, before settling back onto his eyes. "but you don't seem to be as big of a threat as your friend made you out to be, so we can say you're doing good in this assessment", tim said, referencing back to wong explaining why the man was here to begin with. peter didn't flinch, but was momentarily put off.

tim glanced at the grocery list, not looking at it for more than two seconds. "and that says chocolate chip waffles. eggos, specifically," he gave peter a small wave, empty zesti can in hand. "see you around, parker,"

peter watched as tim walked off, straight out of the store in fact—he had only gone there to talk to him? how did he know where he was?

he looked back at the list, and now that tim told him what was apparently written on the sheet of paper, he slowly made out the letters that indeed make up the words chocolate chip eggo waffles at the bottom.

peter sighed, now realizing he was at the completely wrong aisle. he walked off with his cart, grabbing the waffles as well as a pint of cherry vanilla ice cream for himself and a neapolitan for jason, praying that he makes it back in time for the ice cream to not melt together.

when jason picked damian up from school, he could feel some eyes on him and damian as the boy walked up to him and his bike.

"a word in advance would've been appreciated, akhi," damian said with his typical scowl, ears slightly pink as he also felt the eyes on him. jason pursed his lips before opening them to say something, though damian quickly cut him off. "don't acknowledge them, let's just go."

so they did, jason putting his helmet on damian's head, strapping it on securely before they both got on his bike. as they slowly wheeled out the parking lot, jason could see the stares from some kids who he assumed to be damian's classmates—some of the looks being painfully judgemental. he show a nasty glare back, the kids immediately looking away in embarrassment.

"how was school today?" jason asked as they approached the back of a car at a red light. damian's hands slightly twitched.

"typical," was the word damian found. "focused on my studies with the occasional interruption from students who don't care for their education."

jason frowned. damian always insisted the bullying didn't bother him (and it really doesn't), but it bothers jason. he can take nasty words from others, but when it's directed to his siblings? unacceptable. only he can do that.

damian sighed, breaking the brief silence that came between them. "they do not bother me, akhi. it is fine."

"and your friends?" jason asked.

"i do not care for more social interaction than i already have with all of you," damian rested his head on jason's back, some exhaustion settling in. "and jonathan is in metropolis."

the light turned green, and jason began to drive again. "you two should hang out. take a day off, dams."

damian hummed. "eventually."

when they made it to the cat cafe, they spoke loosely about their recent activities; damian talking about his volunteer work at the hospital, jason talking about the work he's gotten done on his bike, among other things.

somewhere in conversation, the topic of jon came back up.

"did you and jon have a fight or something?" jason asked, resting his head on his palm. "you didn't sound too on-board with the idea of spending time with him."

damian looked away briefly, his expression contorting—though not to one of disgust or anger, but uncertainty. "what's that look supposed to mean? what is that?"

"it is not that i don't want to spend time with him," damian quickly responded. "it is .. that he is inviting me to spend time with him."

"what's so ba—"

"a weekend with him," he emphasized. "at the kent farm. with his grandparents and aggravating brother."

jason raised his eyebrows, leaning back into his chair as he crossed his arms. "and you said yes, right?"

"i've said nothing," damian pet the cat in his lap with one hand as he swirled his teaspoon around in the cup in front of him with the other. "my nightly duties are far too important to disregard for a weekend sleepover."

jason's eyelids fell, the man slightly disappointed. "you can't be serious."

"i am."

jason sighed. "dams, gotham isn't going to go up in flames should you take a night or two off," jason sits back up, his hands now resting on the table. "you're a kid, live a little."

"father will .." damian cleared his throat. "father would be disappointed should i shift my priorities."

jason grunted, rolling his eyes. "except bruce wants you to act your age," jason crossed his arms again. "you live your life like you have the responsibilities of the president and you're only thirteen. do some actual teenager stuff, i promise it wont kill you."

damian huffed lightly, taking a brief look at jason before looking back down at the purring cat on his lap. he sighed, "fine," he rested his head on his palm, still looking at the cat as it lay still. "i can't imagine why you are so insistent, as you also lack in human interaction outside of the family."

instead of a snarky comeback or smart comment, all damian got from jason was silence instead—this made him glance back up at him, jason's lips now worked into a line. "what?" damian asked.

"what what?" jason repeated.

"you have nothing to say?" damian raised an eyebrow, doubtfully. jason quietly shrugged, drinking his tea. damian squinted his eyes, jason sensing the pestering that would come if he didn't speak in the next ten seconds.

"i actually," he sets his now empty cup down. "have a roommate now."

a slight flicker of surprise could be seen on damian's face. "really?"

"yep!" jason takes a bite of his croissant. "his name's peter. interesting guy, not sure if you'd love him, though. maybe tolerate like you do connor."

"how long have you had this roommate?" damian asked. jason clicked his tongue, slightly bracing himself.

"going up to three months now?" jason said, causing damian to furrow his eyebrows, very clearly displeased. "and you have kept this from us?"

"sort of. dick knew first then tim found out against my will, and i'd like to limit it to you being the last to know for now, as you know how bruce gets," damian made a quiet connection to when tim managed to convince jason to come to family dinner a while back, then recalled dick's words when he asked him if he thought jason had liked him less as a brother.

so that's what this was.

"i also just wanted to be sure he'd be sticking around before telling anyone," jason shrugged, eating the rest of his croissant. "and he's become sort of fixed in my day life now, so safe to say he's staying."

"is this what timothy used against you? to convince you to attend family dinner?" jason's eyebrows twitched. "you knew about that?"

"i had a suspicion," damian finally took a sip of his tea. "it being unusual that you'd agree to his requests over mine."

jason chuckled. "fair," he scratched his head. "but yeah, no—that's what it was."

"tt," damian clicks his tongue, disapprovingly. he drinks the rest of his tea, the cat on his lap stirring in its sleep as damian's hand now stills.

"and when will i be able to meet this peter?" damian pressed, jason scratching his chin.

"that's a question for another day, baby wing," damian clicks his tongue again in response, frowning.

"don't pout, dams. you'll meet him, i promise." damian's head snapped up, lips now formed into a scowl.

"i do not pout, todd," he said while pouting. jason snorted. "right."

the day seemed to have passed quickly in the cafe, the reason they fell out of conversation being damian receiving a worried text from bruce asking him why he's been in a cafe for five hours. damian was quick to respond, reassuring bruce that he was alright, before urging jason to wrap their day up before bruce went full papa-bear on them both.

the sun was now setting—another reason for jason and damian to pack up and leave. the ride to the manor felt quick, damian sneaking in a nap on the way there, his hands in the pocket of jason's jacket for some security (though not much).

when they arrived, jason said his goodbye and began to move, when damian stopped him.

"wait," he said. jason stopped and watched as damian disappeared into the manor for a few seconds before coming back out with a sheet of paper—a drawing.

the drawing he'd asked for.

"the copy you requested." damian handed it to him, jason taking it with a smile. he would definitely be putting this on his fridge.

"thanks, damian." jason opted for putting the page in his jacket instead of a pocket as to not fold the paper. damian simply nodded, "drive safely."

"you know i do," jason winked, damian rolling his eyes back at him. "night, dams."

jason went out riding his bike awhile longer, his mind wandering as he burned through his gas.

it's no secret that something's up with peter, everyone who knows of his circumstances has come to that conclusion—

—but he feels as though there's something else.

something he isn't telling anyone.

there are some things he hadn't asked him about, either because it'd either seem very personal, or it could blow up in his face.

why did he want everyone to forget him? had he committed some kind of crime and wanted to get away with it? or was he intending to disappear from his loved ones' lives? too personal.

why is he just casually friends with the sorcerer supreme of his universe? was he magic too? it'd explain his abilities—but at the same time, he'd met zatanna. he could ask us the very same question, and we don't really have an answer for that. too risky.

why did everyone forget you but that kid he wants to find? and why wasn't he surprised that he didn't? is he somehow spiritually tethered to him? or could he have interfered with the spell directly? this one is definitely too personal.

jason didn't know how to go about getting his answers. and it's not like he could do his research how he'd typically go about it—peter parker didn't exist up until almost three months ago. he and jason have been in a bit of a gray area when it came to his origins, jason not pushing and peter only letting him in on select parts of his life.

and in a way, jason's been closed off as well.

he hasn't let peter in very much on the dynamic of his family, as well as the fortune. he didn't seem like the type to do so, but he didn't want peter to treat him any differently if he found out about his family's financial situation.

despite this, the guy's been genuine and a good presence around the apartment and in jason's life altogether. while they aren't exceptionally close, as jason has also kept his secrets, they are comfortable with each other—and honestly? that's enough for him.

for now, at least.

though, a part of him wishes what he knew skeletons peter kept in his closet.

though that same part didn't want him to find his own.

a police car with its sirens on speeding past him was what pulled him out of his thoughts, the light turning green at that very moment.

as he locked the door behind him, he half expected to see peter draped over the couch watching whatever bad movie he'd discovered tonight—instead, he was met with a dimly lit and empty living room. jason opened the fridge, and sure enough, it was stocked with everything they'd been missing and more.

the corner of his mouth twitched as he shut the fridge door and made his way to the bathroom, walking past peter's room. he could hear that the male was sleeping soundly, so he made sure to move around the space quietly.

as he was the only one awake, he put on his glasses and started up his computer. he was going to continue his investigation on the drug case and intended to be staring at the screen for a long while, which he did—an hour or two went by, and he decided to get up to grab something from the kitchen.

he was so invested in his work that he'd only realized that peter's room had gone quiet after he opened his room door to step out into the hall. the second thing he'd noticed was the unfamiliar light coming from the kitchen—it was the fridge.

it was open.

and with a quick glance at the dining table, he quickly noticed the silhouette of the man who'd been living with him, though sitting on the floor with his back against the table, eating something while humming to himself.

jason walks over, looming over peter who was eating a pint of ice cream. he looked up at him, his eyebrows twitching in surprise before a smile makes its way onto his face.

"and here i thought you had twenty-twenty vision. at least they look good on you," he ate another scoop of his ice cream as jason realized he hadn't taken off his glasses. "not many people have perfect eyesight, parker."

peter laughed at the response. jason made his way to the fridge and opened the freezer. "what are you doing up?"

"i could ask you the same thing, actually," peter says, spoon in his mouth as the ice cream on it melted. "and with your glasses on? seems like you were preoccupied."

"i'm afraid i asked you first," jason turns around with four frozen waffles in his hand, shutting the freezer and putting them in the toaster. "and why are you on the floor? with the fridge open? is the november air not cold enough for you?"

peter scoffed. "one, the floor is comfortable, and it's more dramatic. two, i like the fridge light. also makes the setting more dramatic," he replies, waving his spoon around as he spoke.

"as for why i'm up, i had another weird dream, and i couldn't fall back asleep, so i came out here and planted my ass on the floor and ate some ice cream," he paused, his eyes staring at the vanilla ice cream he'd bought earlier today.

"may always 'said when in doubt, reach for vanilla.'" he takes in another spoonful as he finishes his rambling. jason leaned on the kitchen counter, arms crossed as he just looked down at peter who seemed checked out as he ate the ice cream.

"i second that. your aunt may seemed like a wise woman," jason commented. peter smiled, but didn't look up. "she was. one of her many charms."

"she would've liked you," he blurted out, eyes still on his ice cream as he poked it with his spoon. "partially because you spoiled me so much. she would tease you about it though. a lot. and i would join in, of course." peter finally got another scoop and ate it.

he got a low laugh out of the other man. "i could live with that," he smirked. "i'm flattered."

"you should be." peter returned the grin, this time glancing back up at jason. he watched as peter's expression went from that grin to something more distant and somber, as if his mind had gone elsewhere for a moment. he looked away again at the container in his hands.

".. i can't visit her grave anymore," he mumbled quietly. jason's lips formed into a line as he listened, that realization dawning upon him now as well. "it sucks, really fucking bad actually. especially with the holidays coming up? i can't .." he hesitated. "i can't go to her grave and wish her a merry christmas."

this was another one of those moments where jason would quietly listen, letting peter talk his heart out in a safe space. he definitely felt for him, hos situation being extremely rough. he tried his hardest to keep his empathy away from becoming pity.

"she wore this .. necklace, with her marriage band on it," peter was poking at his ice cream again, somewhat nervously as he spoke. "i used to put it under my pillow as i slept. it's probably stupid, but it brought me comfort, you know? it almost felt like she was still with me—and now, i have no way of getting it back." peter's voice slightly cracked near the end, eating another spoonful of ice cream.

jason gave him a disapproving look. "that's not stupid, you just love her and continued to grieve," he reassured him. peter looked up at him, jason continuing. "everyone grieves differently, and your way isn't anything to be ashamed of."

peter looked at him for a moment—then smiled. "you should be a therapist. you always know what to say, it's kind of scary sometimes," he scoffs. "it's like you can read my mind, i don't like it."

jason laughs this time, the toaster going off with a ding! prompting him to walk over and plate his snack for the night. "i mean," jason starts, back turned towards peter. "i could stop doing that, spout nonsense if you want."

"i didn't say i didn't like your good reads, i said i didn't like how it feels like you're in my head." peter corrected him. jason retreated back to his previous space against the counter, this time with his plate of waffles.

"i'm in your head?" jason put on a teasing tone. "you think about me often, parker?"

peter snorts. "you wish. i fear my mind is preoccupied with other things besides my brick house of a roommate," this got a proper chuckle out of jason, peter laughing along. "who still treats me like a normal person after finding out that i heal fast and can't scar."

"you forgot the from another dimension part."

"makes it all the more crazier, jason." peter replied. upon the topic of scars coming up, his eyes naturally began to roam across jason, taking in the amount of scars he had. he had a clear view of his arms (courtesy of a tank top) and their markings, as well as the ones on his face and neck.

jason's no fool—he can see peter's curiosity written all over his face.

"you checking me out or something?" he joked, making peter's eyes nervously snapping back up to his. he laughed, "what? you were staring just now—shamelessly, might i add." jason took a bite out of a waffle.

peter rolled his eyes. "breaking: man who's pure muscle is surprised that people look at him a little longer than usual." peter sarcastically played into the bit—but he couldn't lie, anyone with eyes could tell that man was attractive, that just wasn't his main focus at that moment.

although the joke stuck, he knew that wasn't what peter was thinking.

he swallowed his bite. "fights," he simply said. peter looked up at him.

"how many?"

"lots of 'em. it is gotham, after all—getting mugged is something everyone experiences at least five times." he kept his actual short, peter taking the hint. he hummed and nodded, not wanting to press further.

peter lets the silent linger for a beat before speaking again. "and tim?"

jason froze. "what about tim?"

"i saw him today at the grocery store," peter commented. "we talked—well, he sort of grilled me. it felt like i was being interrogated," peter rolled his eyes, waving his spoon around before scooping it in the ice cream again and taking another bite. "but up close, i noticed a scar on his neck. more fights?"

jason felt his eye twitch at the fact that tim had followed—definitely followed—peter and had him cornered at a grocery store.

"did he actually?" jason asked. peter nodded, jason sighing in response. "i'm sorry about him, he's .." jason paused. "something."

peter laughed. "don't worry, it's okay. it's actually cute how much he seems to care about you." him, or his personal life? jason shrugged. peter noticed jason didn't answer his question and took that as a sign that this was a sensitive topic.

he let this one go as well.

"speaking of my brothers," jason finished his waffle and picked up another. "i told damian about you—the kid wants to meet you."

peter looked at him and almost giggled. "you're making it sound like we're newly together," peter joked. "did you at least make sure to tell him i'm the breadwinner?"

jason snorted, followed by a soft laugh. "of course not," peter clicked his tongue, feigning disappointment. jason smiled, "i can't let him know that i'm the housewife, now can't i?"

"i'll remember this," peter squinted his eyes at jason, who just shrugged again without a word. his gaze lingered on the other male as he began to eat his third waffle, jason looking back at him as he saw peter's gaze go upward, roaming slightly above the eyes.

"do you have vitiligo?" he asked, his eyes coming back down to meet jason's. did he have vitiligo? probably not—if he was referring to his hair, that'd be the lazarus pit's doing.

but to peter, jason now has vitiligo.

"yep," he kept it short. "just the hair."

peter was quiet for a second, eyes continuing to roam as he noticed that his roots were coming in on his eyebrows and his eyelashes in some places. had he been dying his brows? getting his lashes tinted to even everything out?

"it's cool," he said. "you should try letting the white grow back out on your lashes and eyebrows. it'll suit you."

jason gave him a slightly confused smile. "what is it with you and my appearance today? miss me that much?"

peter rolled his eyes for what felt to be the millionth time during the exchange. "must i bring up that you're the one who decided to stick around with me?"

jason subtly smiled. "eh, guilty," he took the last bite from his waffle, putting his plate down as he picked up the final one.

"maybe if you didn't take so many shifts at work, i could see more of you—you're gone for like, seventy percent of the week, completely overworking yourself," he bit into the waffle, peter looking down at his ice cream. had he really been putting so many hours into his job?

"just saying, it wouldn't kill you to work your normal shifts and be able to spend more time at home."

peter looked up at him, taking the spook out his mouth. "home?"

"yeah?" jason finishes his waffle. "you live, sleep, and eat here long-term, do you not?"

peter was quiet. of course he did, but he'd never referred to this as his home. it was just jason's, and he had essentially crash landed in it.

matter of fact, neither of them have referred to the apartment as nothing but jason's.

this was new.

"well if this is my home .. i feel like it's only fair i entirely know who i'm living with," peter scooped up more ice cream. "unless your name is just jason, in which case, that'd be .. strange."

jason hummed, looking down at peter from where he stood. he didn't realize he'd never given him his full name—all he knew him as was jason. it's only fair he'd tell him.

"jason todd," he cleared his throat. "that's my name."

"no nickname?" peter half-joked, looking up from his ice cream as he took another bite.

"nope," jason crossed his arms. "just a last name."

peter smiled, nodding as he continued to look at him.

"okay, jason todd."

the conversation was interrupted by nothing but the soft hum from the fridge. it was nothing but them and the light from it in their shared space, talking about whatever came to mind at two in the morning.

they eventually did have to part ways back into their respective rooms, but they both fell asleep with a sense of peace and content.

another step in the right direction.