Chapter Text
Peter was uncomfortable.
Not uncomfortable in the sense that he wanted to leave, but uncomfortable in the way that makes him want to crawl into the corner of the ceiling and stay there.
Instead, in order to seem somewhat normal and not freak these people (namely the Flashes) out more than he already has, Peter has to force his feet to stay cemented to their spot behind the bar, where he was squished between the broad shoulders of both Nightwing and Hood.
The room was packed.
There were nine of them in the livingroom and kitchen now, which really wasn’t the best thing because the apartment itself was tiny. Just the area in the kitchen and livingroom alone was probably about 200 square feet. And sure, that sounds like it should be big enough to fit nine people, but for some reason Batman and the other black-clad vigilante that had joined them took up about half of the space themselves, with the entirety of the Flash clan off to the side. Tigress was the only one that actually dared to go near the two, seemingly catching up with the girl beside Batman. But Tigress, too, still kept her distance, standing a bit further than an arm’s length away from her.
From what Peter could tell, it wasn’t a lack of trust. It was purely because Batman and this new mystery woman (Peter decided to call her Batgirl in his head, purely just because the way her domino mask ended in long points felt reminiscent of a bat itself. That paired with the yellow bat symbol on her chest all but solidified the name in Peter’s mind) had such an intimidating presence. It felt like they took up half the room, but they really didn’t.
Matching that with the calculation behind their expressions, Peter almost felt like his skin was crawling. It was as though they saw right through you– like they could see that Peter’s faked relaxed lean against the bar was fake. It was as though there was no hiding what his true intentions were from them– like he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was always an eye on him, looking for a slip in his posture. As though they were measuring him up to figure out his motives and how best they could take him down if they needed to.
The worst part was that no one had said anything yet. No questions, no conversation starters, nothing. It felt like everyone was at a stalemate, and Peter half thinks it’s purposeful. That they’re trying to see how thick his skin is– how much they can make him squirm before they decide to talk to him.
Too bad for them– Peter’s been around too many people much like them to let himself slip.
In a weird way, it felt a lot like seeing Natasha again. It’d been ages since she passed– since she sacrificed herself– but Peter still remembers the way she was always poised to fight, always on the balls of her feet. How jaded she was– as though she was prepared for anyone, especially those she didn’t know (which was why she always was on guard around Peter) to attack her at any moment.
The familiarity across universes made him relax in a way, though it also made him wary. He had learned that those that are always ready– like Natasha or the Winter Soldier– are the ones that have been through the most. The ones that were conditioned to fight over years of training that were most likely less than voluntary. If that level of alert was instilled into you, there’s something nasty in your past, especially if they’re as young as this Batgirl appears to be. Peter could guess she’s not much older than twenty, and if she’s that young… someone in her past tried to make her a weapon. The same way Black Widow and the Winter Soldier were molded to become.
It appears that, much like those two, this Batgirl had broken out of that mold, but still hasn’t shaken all the old habits.
Peter really hopes that Batman wasn’t the one to put her through all that, or else he’ll probably have to kick his ass. A part of Peter wonders if that’s why Hood seems to have such a rough past with him, but then it wouldn’t make sense as to why Red Robin and Nightwing seemed so trusting of him.
Batman was poised much the same way, though his hands were hidden underneath his cape, which was draped over him like a cloak. While Batgirl seemed more relaxed as she talked to Tigress, Batman seemed almost unwilling to let his guard down. It almost reminded him of Matt, making his intentions clear that he was wary of you and ready to take you down if you so much as said one wrong thing.
Peter jerked his head up, realizing he had started to nod off, and stiffened as he realized he had made direct eye contact with Batman in doing so. Quickly rolling out his shoulders, the one still a little stiff from its earlier injury (his spectacular reverse swan dive onto that rooftop), he looked away, pulling his attention toward Hood on his left, who looked just as murderous as ever. His hands weren’t gripping the counter this time, though they were clutching onto his leather jacket and chin as he leaned over the counter with one arm crossed over the other and his head balancing on one hand, his gaze settled directly on Batman. His helmet was off again, and Peter noticed yet again how similar he looked to Batman– well, Bruce Wayne. Peter couldn’t really see Batman’s face, so he had to go off of what he remembered of Mr.Wayne from the newspaper and billboards he saw. A part of him wondered if maybe he was just seeing things and that his sleep deprived and starved brain might be trying to fill in blanks that aren’t there, but he ignored it purely because of how personal their relationship felt. Seriously, it felt like Peter had walked in on something he shouldn’t have every time the two were within the same vicinity of one another.
It made him feel even more uncomfortable when he looked back out to the room to see Batman was still staring Peter down, blatantly ignoring Hood’s glare as he seemingly tried to unravel Peter with just his eyes alone.
Desperate to get the attention off of himself, he looked over at Nightwing, who was listening to whatever conversation the Flashes were having.
Nudging the taller man in the side, Peter slightly nodded his head backwards toward Hood when Nightwing had finally looked at him. He made sure to keep his voice low, but loud enough Nightwing could most definitely hear it. “Is he okay?”
Nightwing lowered himself down to lean against the counter himself, getting to be around the same height as Peter when he did so. “Hood just has a bad relationship with– uh, with Batman. They have differing views and that kinda leads to arguments.”
“Yeah, I hadn’t figured,” Peter deadpanned. “Seems like they’re best friends to me.”
“Yeah, well imagine working with the two of them at least once a week.”
Peter faked a shiver, bumping into Hood when he did so. “Sounds like a nightmare.”
“It is.”
Glancing back over his shoulder, Peter noticed that Hood didn’t even seem to have noticed Peter bump into him. It was almost funny, though something made the corner of Peter’s mouth pull downwards– that anger had begun to take shape as something else and whatever it was was bleeding off of Hood so much that it made a lump form in Peter’s own throat.
He leaned forward slightly, tilting his head before he noticed that Hood was not, in fact, glaring at Batman anymore. His eyes were closed, his breathing deep and steady. Peter smiled as he realized that Hood was asleep.
Pushing past the emotions that were rolling off the other vigilante in waves, Peter pushed himself off the counter and sidestepped Nightwing in order to get access to the pantry, a smirk beginning to form on his face. Opening the cabinet, he immediately headed for the peanutbutter sandwich crackers, grabbed three packs, and returned to his previous post. Opening one of the packs, all heads in the room but Hood’s (who was still asleep) and Batman’s (who was already looking at Peter) turned to him at the noise, stopping their own conversations. Kid Flash’s head probably was the most notable, as his head had popped up from the back of an armchair in the livingroom.
His grin spreading, Peter took one of the crackers, and instead of pulling his mask above his nose and eating it (even though he honestly wanted to), Peter gently placed it atop of Hood’s head, nestled in his black mess of curls that Peter noticed had some dark brown mixed in.
There was a quiet snicker from across the room, and Peter’s eyebrows raised to see that it was the girl in black– Batgirl as Peter had previously dubbed her. Biting the inside of his own cheek to stop himself from laughing, he added another cracker, stacking them. Everyone in the room watched intently as he stacked cracker after cracker, quickly finishing one pack before he reached for another.
When the stacks on Hood’s head seemed like they were nearly ready to fall over, Peter moved on to stacking them atop Hood’s right shoulder since it was the closest to Peter. He found a spot where the leather jacket Hood was wearing was flattened enough, and eventually ran out of crackers.
But then a pack was held out to him– Nightwing had grabbed more out of the pantry and was trying to give Peter more with a smirk on his face as he gave him a small nod.
Peter gratefully took the packets, stacking until that shoulder was covered in crackers.
At that point, Peter leaned around Hood to look at his other shoulder, which was pretty much unreachable for Peter from where he stood at the moment. Looking up at the ceiling with a cheeky grin, Peter made sure it wasn’t popcorn ceiling (the last time he tried to climb on that, it collapsed on him in a disturbingly fragile powdery mess) before he hopped up to the ceiling, attaching himself to it with one hand before he pulled himself the rest of the way up.
Walking over until he was just to the left of Hood’s left shoulder, Peter started placing the crackers one by one, covering it until there was nowhere else to put any more.
Quietly snickering, Peter turned back to look at his audience with a grin on his face, trying to gauge each of their reactions. Tigress, Flash, and Jay all had small smiles on their faces, Nightwing looked like he was barely holding in a laugh, just one side of Batgirl’s mouth was upturned into a smirk, Batman was (somehow) smiling (though it looked so unnatural on him that it honestly made Peter think he was grimacing at first), and Kid Flash was grinning like a madman.
In the blink of an eye, Kid Flash was gone from the back of the armchair before he reappeared right in front of the bar, the jar of peanuts from the fridge in his hands. Peter had to keep himself from flinching. After all, he’d seen footage of Quicksilver and his work– how easily he took down all of the Avengers. Even with Peter’s senses, he doesn’t think he could stand a chance against any one of the Flashes.
“I didn’t think these would come in handy,” Kid Flash whispered. “But I’ve never been happier that nuts were here.”
Barely containing a snort, Peter walked over next to him, hopping down from the ceiling to stand next to Kid Flash as he started tossing peanuts at Hood. A part of him felt extremely uncomfortable turning his back on Batman and Batgirl, but he decided that torturing Hood was probably worth it since the guy fell asleep in a moment where Peter’s literally in a room where the person that he trust most quite literally is Hood, and even then, he’s known the guy for only a few days (Half the time Peter’s not sure why he trusts him or if he’s even trusting the right person in the first place. But the familiarity that comes with being around Hood, the fact that it only seems like he wants to help him (though it was the same with Beck), and his senses seeming to fully trust him (even with the literal dozens of weapons that are on him)– Peter feels like he might be able to rely on Hood for now. After all, he knows Peter’s secret now). It wasn’t long before Nightwing rounded the corner and joined, helping Peter and Kid Flash.
Peter was almost worried at the amount of peanuts that they were throwing at Hood. Seriously, the number was reaching nearly thirty before Batgirl had stepped between Nightwing and Peter (who literally shivered as soon as she moved), snatched a peanut out of Nightwing’s hand, held it up, and flicked it with so much force that it didn’t even arc as it sailed through the air and smacked Hood directly on the forehead.
Hood’s head nearly smacked the counter as he jerked awake before he stood up to send all of the crackers toppling off of him in a glorious cascade that didn’t seem like it would end, a hand rushing to his forehead as the other immediately pulled out a gun, aiming it at Batgirl’s head (how did he know it was her???).
As soon as it was leveled at her, it was gone, Peter having attached a web to it before he yanked it into his own hand, tutting as he did to sound more disappointed than he was. “Hood, man. I thought we could trust you with guns.” He felt the entire room around him tense at the sight of him with a gun (most notably Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Flash), to which he had to stop himself from scoffing at (he has to keep reminding himself they don’t know who Spider-Man is and what he stands for). In almost one fluid motion, Peter pressed the magazine release to allow it to fall to the floor before pulling the slide back to send the bullet in the chamber flying across the room before he tossed it back to Hood (thank you Wade for teaching Peter one thing that is actually useful when it comes to guns). “Be thankful I didn’t crush it this time.”
“...You can crush guns?” Nightwing asked, breaking the brief silence that followed Peter’s statement.
Peter shrugged as he looked to Hood, who was looking at the floor around him, staring blankly at the (probably nearly one hundred) crackers that were piled around his feet before his head panned up towards the counter (which was also covered in crackers). Peter snickered at him as a cracker that was still on his shoulder slid off onto the floor. “I mean, most people can crush them under their feet if they really want to. I just drew a lucky hand when it came to powers and now I can be lazy and just snap them like twigs in my hands.”
“So, you have superstrength and can stick your hands and feet to walls?” Batman asked, almost making Peter jump out of his skin as he whipped his head around to be face-to-face with the Bat himself. “Anything else we should know about?”
Rather than answer, Peter shrugged again and walked over to the bar again, brushing some crackers off of the stool before he sat down and spun the chair around to face his new ally (he’s not entirely sure what Batman will be to him yet) and grabbed a cracker off the counter before he flipped his mask up to reveal a smug smirk. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.” He popped the cracker into his mouth.
His newfound joy in stumping Batman was immediately ruined as he realized he made one crucial error after he stacked crackers on Hood: he looked away. Turning around a moment too late, Peter only got a glimpse of the wicked grin that had settled on Hood’s face before crackers were squashed into the lenses of his goggles.
🕸 /l\^._.^/l\🕸
Jason honestly couldn’t believe how easily Spider-Man was distracted. It literally took two sentences from Bruce (which is probably the only useful thing about the Bat) to get the attention off of Jason enough that Spider-Man turned away and Jason could strike.
And yeah, sure, Jason knocked the kid over because of the momentum of him vaulting the bar, but he’s probably fine. At least, so long as he doesn’t choke on the cracker in his mouth, he’s fine. Like Damian had mentioned before, he has to have some sort of damage resistance or invulnerability in order to combat his massive levels of superstrength. And it’s not like Webs was ever going to get out of this unscathed– there’s almost no way that any of his siblings would stack crackers on top of Jason, much less know where they were. The only ones that might have done that would be Dick or Tim, and Dick is too tired to even process what’s happening right now and Tim isn’t even here. Maybe Steph, but she’s also not here, and Jason’s half sure Kid Flash would piss his pants if he so much as looked at him.
So of course it had to have been the little fucker Jason had found in a God damn Crime Alley graveyard of all places. That’s literally the equivalent of the town dumpster but for people. God, Jason picked up the kid off the streets like he was a fucking raccoon.
Spider-Man shrieked before another handful of crackers headed for his face (courtesy of Jason), the kid stopping Jason’s hand mere centimeters above his face before Dick joined Jason in pressing them down, Spider-Man’s eyes widening.
“Nightwing! I thought we were in this together!”
“All’s fair in love and war.”
Spider-Man gasped exaggeratedly. “You love me?” Spider-Man’s eyes widened as he moved one hand down to put it on the side of his head, a smile crossing his lips that they could actually see since his mask was still flipped up. There still wasn’t even a sign of struggle out of Spider-Man, the kid was just laying on the floor holding both Jason and Dick up, both of whom were putting nearly their full body weight on top of him. “That’s so sweet Nightwing, but I’m sorry to say I’m not interested–”
Kid Flash threw his own bodyweight on top of the now pile of hands, effectively cutting Spider-Man off with a smirk. “Dude, you’re like sixteen. Stop flirting with an adult. Jeez, you sound like–”
“No? I’m twent–” Spider-Man’s eyes widened as Dick quite literally pulled himself up into a handstand so he could put his full body weight on Spider-Man’s arm in an attempt to smoosh the crackers into his face. “What the–”
Cass joined the fray, her hand on top of Kid Flash’s as the whole group looked like they were in a huddle trying to make a plan on how best to take Webs down even though the kid is right there. Jason’s half surprised Spider-Man could still hold them all up– he knew the kid was strong, but he didn’t think the kid could hold up more than a few hundred or maybe a few thousand pounds, especially after his recent starvation. Jason had assumed that he probably only had a little bit of superstrength in him still– maybe a couple hundred pounds of force– but this kid was easily holding all of them up (with one arm, might he add). How fucking strong is this kid? What the hell is he capable of at his full strength?
At the introduction of Cass’s weight, Webs looked around the pile of hands to spot her, his lenses narrowing. “Et tu, Brute?”
“Why are ya’ quotin’ Caesar righ’ now?” Jason asked, a surprised laugh escaping him. “Fuck, how strong are ya’?”
“Stronger than I look.” Spider-Man sat up as though there was no weight on him, pushing all of them up and off-balance which sent Dick crashing into Jason before they started to fall backwards towards the bar. Before they hit, something grabbed hold of Jason’s leather jacket and yanked Dick off of him (who was still upside down), Dick’s shirt surprisingly holding his weight as he was suspended mid-air. Jason looked down to spot that Spider-Man was standing now, his lenses wide and his lips thinned before they smoothed into a smile. “Sorry, got carried away.”
He pulled Jason to his feet and lowered Dick down to the ground enough to let him place his arms underneath him before he took a step back to let Dick flip right-side up. Webs flashed them with a bright smile before he yanked his mask down.
“You’re quick.”
“Huh?” Spider-Man looked over at Cass, one lense narrowed as though he was raising an eyebrow as he took a step back and distanced himself from the group.
“You have fast reflexes,” she expanded. “Were you trained?”
The spider’s eyes widened before settling once again into their (still wide) normal state. “Uh, I mean, yeah. By a lot of people. But those reflexes aren’t really from that.”
Cass’s head tilted, and Jason watched as Web’s shoulders tenses slightly, probably uncomfortable with the proximity. After all, the kid seemed like he didn’t even like Jason being that close, and Jason knows the kid the best out of everyone in the room. On top of that, Spider-Man has clearly been uncomfortable ever since Bruce landed on the bridge and was uneasy around Cass before the Bat even showed up. He was clearly anxious, and Jason’s half sure Cass is trying to see how uneasy she can make him before he either snaps or speaks up. She wants to see his reaction.
“So–” Dick cut in, apparently thinking on the same wavelength as Jason as he turned toward Bruce. “What’re we still doing here? Shouldn’t we be calling a meeting or something?”
“I would suggest it, though it seems like the three of you need sleep more than anything.” Bruce nodded towards the group, and Jason assumes he’s probably talking about himself, Dick, and Webs.
Scoffing, Jason rolled his eyes. “Since when did ya’ give a damn ‘bout that?”
“Since I noticed the three of you were about to fall asleep standing up, and one of you eventually did.”
“I’m fine,” Spider-Man cut in. “And besides, this seems like it really shouldn’t wait. I mean, he’s been in there for over a year longer than he should’ve been.”
“How long have you known he’s been there for?” Bruce asked, his voice edging on dangerous.
Spider-Man seemed to literally shrink down. “Uh, technically that full year since I talked to him and all, but I have no clue what happened during the aforementioned year. I have no memory of it and also my suit was dead so I kinda got smacked with a double whammy here.”
“No memory? You can’t think of anything at all after you left the Speed Force?” Bruce shifted slightly, just enough that his cape (which was basically a cloak with how it shrouded around him) opened up slightly. It was a move that was barely subtle, but Jason knew that Webs clearly noticed it with how his shoulders tensed the slightest bit.
“Well–”
“Do you know anythin’, Batman?” Jason asked, nearly spitting the name as his deepseated anger bubbled to the surface.
“Why are you so insistent that I was involved in any of this? I’ve told you before that I was not the one to find Spider-Man–”
“Sorry Bats,” Flash interrupted. “But the video proves otherwise.”
Bruce’s head turned over to look at the Speedster. “Is there another video?”
“Yeah,” Dick said. “We didn’t really show it to you out there because it’s a bit… confidential.”
Bruce’s lips thinned and Jason heard a barely audible whisper from Spider-Man before the spot on his chest lit up again before a hologram formed with the image of Bruce in that surgical suite, gloves on his hands and his brown overcoat pressed to perfection (courtesy of Alfred most likely). It was undoubtedly him– and after looking at Bruce’s reaction– his lips pressed into a thin line as he leaned in slightly to look– Bruce must’ve known he’d been caught. And with the sigh that accompanied his expression, Jason was nearly sure of it.
“So you know my identity?” His glare was directed at Webs, who shifted.
“I mean– I didn’t really mean to. It’s hard to kinda stop my mind from putting two and two together when it’s basically told to me who that is–” he nodded towards the hologram– “and then we go and find you and Hood starts yelling and saying that you’re the one who found me. So– uh, yeah. Did not mean to figure out who you are Mr— uh– Batman.”
Jason had to fight himself from cracking a smile. For fuck’s sake it was almost funny watching him panic whenever Bruce or Cass so much as glanced in his direction. To be fair, it is for good reason– the two are hellishly intimidating and always look like they’re reading you like a book– it’s like their own version of a resting bitch face. Jason doesn’t blame the kid, but the two of them won’t hurt him unless he forces their hand, which Jason is a solid ninety-five percent sure he won’t. And Jason knew the kid rambled a lot– he could tell that from the handful of conversations he actually had with the kid, but god damn – the nervous rambling is a whole other level.
“And this is real?” Bruce hummed.
“What?” Spider-Man asked, shifting.
“Well, we’ve dealt with Ai and other entities manufacturing their own stories. How are we so sure you or your Ai didn’t factualize this?” Bruce tilted his head. “I have no memory of that whatsoever. I also can most likely pull up my own footage to clear my name. That–” Bruce pointed at the screen, one arm escaping his cloak– “is not me.” Letting the cape fall behind him, Bruce straightened himself before raising a hand to his ear while Spider-Man practically gawked at him. “Oracle, can you pull up footage from October 17, 2024 and send it to the Hall of Justice? We’re heading there soon. Call some of the others in as well. We need to work fast.”
“I– what purpose would I even have to fabricate it? Like let’s be so for real right now. I don’t deal with fake things. Yeah, I could probably do something like that, but I didn’t even know who Bruce Wayne was up until a few days ago. I don’t think Karen even had any information about you back then–”
“I can confirm I did not know about you until I recently connected to the internet earlier today.”
Bruce scoffed. “If she’s an Ai and has connection to the internet then she most definitely knew who I was at the time.”
“I just said–”
“There’s no possible way she could have known–”
“She may be lying.”
Spider-Man stared at Bruce for a moment, blatantly glowering at Bruce. “She’s not lying.”
“And how do you know this?”
Spider-Man glanced over at Jason, who offered him a small shrug. After all, it’s his decision if he really wants to reveal his secret. He did share it with Jason (surprisingly) early, especially considering how heavy of a secret it is. The kid is from a whole other universe that has its own heroes and its own story. It’s not Jason’s choice over whether or not that should be revealed or not.
“I just– I just know, okay? She’s not lying.”
“You seem incredibly trusting of her. Why?” Dick asked, and Jason almost punched the guy for asking another question but only didn’t because the kid seemed to relax a bit more at Dick’s more relaxed tone.
“Because she’s never let me down before. I– Karen’s been there even when I had no one. I don’t care what you think– or any of you for that matter.” Webs looked around the room at each of them. “I know Karen, and she would not make this all up. If anything, maybe someone found out your identity and then used you as a cover for whatever the Hell they did to me.”
Bruce’s eyes narrowed. “What’re you implying?”
“You guys got shapeshifters? Illusionists? Is magic a thing here? Anyone got access to cloaking tech? Anyone who might know your identity that has not the best intentions or someone who you don’t fully trust? Is time travel a thing here? It might’ve been you from the future or something. Do you know any cloning magic or tech? Hell, the list goes on and on. I never said that it was you. That was Hood.” Spider-Man nodded towards Jason. “Hell, it could’ve been you from a whole different universe for all we know.”
Jason had to fight back the smile that was struggling to make its way onto his face at the last addition.
“There’s too many things that person could be.” Bruce sighed before turning towards the Flashes. “We need to meet with the rest of the Justice League to try to narrow it down and get more information we may need.”
“Did Oracle call a meeting already?” Flash asked.
Bruce nodded. “She contacted the main seven and a few others who may be of use in this situation and sent out a signal. The Batplane is already on the way here and–”
“Im sorry–” Webs interrupted. “Batplane? You themed your plane? Do you have a Batboat and a Batcar, too?”
Bruce stared at Spider-Man as nearly everyone else in the room chuckled.
“It’s actually called the Batmobile,” Dick added, which seemed to send Webs into a sort of silent laughter, his shoulders shaking and breathing coming out shaking, but his lenses were upturned to suggest he was smiling.
Bruce continued to deadpan stare at the spider, who seemed like he was trying his hardest not to laugh out loud.
“What?” Webs literally sounded like he was being strangled as a small laugh escaped him. “I’m not laughing.”
Surprisingly, a small smile crossed Bruce’s lips, which made Jason raise an eyebrow as Bruce seemed to reach for something. Jason prepared to pull out a gun before—
“I also have Bat arangs.” Bruce flashed the shuriken from beneath his cape, holding it between two of his fingers as Spider-Man finally let himself laugh out loud as Jason’s eyebrows crinkled, staring at the Bat.
Since when did he genuinely try to be funny? The last time Jason had joked around with Bruce was that one time they were eating burgers outside of Gotham and finally were on good terms again. Back when Bruce had finally accepted Jason back into Gotham. And now… they’re back to square one.
The anger that had built up inside Jason before had disappeared. Maybe Webs had a point when he said that it probably wasn’t actually Bruce himself that found Spider-Man after he crashlanded (Or maybe Jason is too unwilling to see that Bruce would make the right decision. Maybe Jason wants to find a reason for his hate for Batman to be validated).
Bruce turned around, flicking his cape as he stalked back the hallway. “The Batplane is ready.”
Spider-Man snorted again.
🕸 /l\^._.^/l\🕸
When they said Batplane, Peter was expecting maybe a black plane, nothing more. Something fancy but not super flashy. Maybe something sort of similar to Tony’s style– with some sort of cloaking device so it could blend in with the night.
This was a whole dang plane in the shape of a bat.
It landed on a rooftop not too far away– one that was flat without a roof access. It used similar mechanics to that one that the other Peter (Starlord) drove and didn’t need a runway to land, rather turn its engines to allow it to land similarly to a helicopter.
Peter paused mid-step at the sight of it. He was already half surprised that he was getting taken to this Hall of Justice they were talking about (he’s assuming it’s similar to the Avengers Tower), especially after he literally met Batman (who he’s assuming is the pseudo leader of the vigilantes in Gotham) about an hour earlier and he still hasn’t proved that any of them could trust him at this point- even Hood.
Thinking about it, Peter’s not even really sure why the guy trusts him so much. He’s defended him at every twist and turn even though the most Peter has had was a singular conversation with him about morals.
To add to that, Peter’s not sure why he trusts Hood. Maybe it was the fact that the guy practically admitted to dying and coming back just like Peter had and said that all he wanted to do was help Peter. But even then, Beck had basically said the same. He tried to relate to Peter and he wiggled his way in until he was close enough to turn on him– close enough to ruin everything. Peter’s not sure how much he can trust Hood even after everything that’s happened within the past few days. But in his defense, Peter has to find someone to trust in this universe.
But even if he trusts Hood, should he be trusting the others as well? Should he even be going with them? Is he biting off more than he can chew too early?
A hand clasped down on his shoulder, snapping Peter out of his stupor so immediately that he stumbled to the side, his head whipping over to find Batgirl.
“You okay?”
Relaxing his shoulders and beginning to walk again, Peter nodded, trying to offer her a smile that she probably can’t fully see. “Yeah, just wondering how we’re all supposed to fit into that tiny little thing.”
Batgirl smiled back at him. “It’s more spacious than it looks.”
“Oh!” Peter turned around again to look at her (he totally wasn’t using this as a reason to keep her in front or beside him, no, he wanted to have a conversation with her (he really didn’t. Right now, he just wanted to go home). “I never really got your name– I’ve honestly just been calling you Batgirl in my head because of the whole–” Peter waved his hand towards her, making a circle with his hand– “bat schtick you got going.”
She smiled, walking beside him (which Peter practically deflated at, all of the tenseness in his shoulders releasing as though he were a balloon that lost all of its air) as Hood took up the rear of the group. Waving with her hands as she spoke, she shrugged. “I’m not super strict about what names people use for me. While I did go by Batgirl at one point, I don’t tend to use that anymore. Rather, I go by Black Bat or Orphan now, but since I’m not publicly Black Bat just yet and my suit for that isn’t finished yet, I still go by Orphan mostly. Spoiler took up the Batgirl mantle after I had it, but now she ditched it again since Spoiler suits her a bit better.”
Peter nodded. “Yeah, I understand why she went back. I tried a different name for a bit. Took up the mantle of this guy called Dusk about a year ago or so.”
“Why did you take up his mantle?”
“Well, I mean, he died. I– I wanted to do good by his name and help save his people, so I took the mantle for a bit and then handed it off to someone else after I saved them all and escaped that place I was in.” Peter shrugged. “She was a better Dusk than I ever was. Just like I’m a better Spider-Man than everyone else who’s tried their hand at it.”
“Why are you so confident you’re the best Spider-Man?”
“Well– it’s not that I’m the best, per se. I’ve met a few other Spider-Men and we all had our own strengths and weaknesses. But in terms of my own universe, no one else has shown me they could be a better Spider-Man than me.”
“The other Spider-Men were from different universes?”
“Uh, yeah.” Peter launched himself across the street with a singular jump while the others used their grappling hooks. “It was a whole thing– too long to explain– but to put it simply, they’re back in their own universes now. But as for everyone else who has tried to be Spider-Man in my universe– which most of them were my own friends– it’s not fun seeing them try to be me.” He laughed as he recalled Johnny literally getting so sick of not being able to keep up with Peter in his Fantastic Four version of Peter’s suit that he eventually gave up and torched the suit when he activated his own powers (it looked like a Wish Spider-Man was following Peter around). “Yeah, do not want to experience that again.”
Before they even got close to the plane, Peter cracked a smile as a familiar song got louder as the ramp at the back of the plane lowered. Creasing his eyebrows, he tried to remember the name between the symphony of heavy drums and electric guitar, nodding his head along to the song as he tapped his hand against his side at the quick beat of it.
He knew the band– he could’ve recognized Billie Joe Armstrong from a mile away. After all, Green Day was one of the many bands that both Peter and Tony listened to religiously when they were working in the lab (along with AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones). Hell, Peter hadn’t listened to them since–
Brain Stew. That’s the name of the song. (Peter’s choosing to blatantly ignore the hollow pit in his chest that made itself known as he remembered his names of working in the lab alongside Tony. Of learning and genuinely wanting to– not doing it because he felt obligated to. Of working alongside someone he admired and wanted to be. Of working with someone who wanted to make Peter better than himself. Peter wanted to ignore that he knows he still misses Tony.)
Something in the back of Peter’s mind knows Tony would be disappointed at how Peter ended up. Stranded in another universe with no way to go back for the foreseeable future. His eyebrows furrowed further as he remembered something from recent– a dream maybe? He remembers Tony was angry and yelling and Peter was upset– then something happened. A headache formed at the base of his skull as he willing his brain to dig into it before he was pushed, seemingly having slowed down enough that Hood had bumped into him.
Picking up his pace, they walked up the ramp and Peter was immediately hit with an overwhelming amount of new car smell, lemon, and the slightest hint of coppery blood. It made his eyes water a tiny bit and Peter coughed slightly as he blinked back tears to be able to get a better look at the interior of the plane.
It was primarily gray with some yellow accents. As promised, it was bigger on the inside than it seemed, showcasing an aisle that led up to the center console that was lined with six rows of singular chairs on either side and lockers lining the walls. At the end of the aisle was the center console, which had a singular chair placed before it that was spun around to reveal the person that drove the Batplane here.
Peter scoffed, attempting to turn around before a hand grabbed his shoulder, spinning him back around to face forward once again. Peter glared at the person that tugged him back on the ship, spotting Hood looking down at him. “If I’m stuck with ‘im, you’re gonna be stuck with ‘im, too.”
“It’s different when you actually get along with him and he doesn’t steal your alfredo.” Peter crossed his arms, glaring at their Red Robin, who was shooed out of the seat with just a glare from Batman.
When he stood up, Red Robin must’ve gotten a good look at them because his face lit up with a grin as his eyes assumedly landed on Peter. “Oh hey, you guys are bringing my personal chef! That’s so kind of you all!”
Peter stared at him before looking back up at Hood. “I’m gonna jump out of the plane if he says anything to me.”
The Flashes had chosen to join them rather than make their own way there, and Kid Flash appeared in a blink in the seat Red Robin was about to sit down in, laughing when the darker clad vigilante turned around and glared at him before he joined in the laughter.
At least there’s someone here to distract Red Robin so he can’t torture Peter with more of his questions. Well, more like Peter would probably ragebait the dude to the point that he’d finally shut up again, but it depends on the mood that Peter’s in. Because right now, Peter’s pretty sure he would web the guy’s mouth shut if he so much as looked at him again.
Peter took a seat in the second to last row on the right and Hood sat in the seat in front of him as everyone settled into their own seats. Peter’s eyebrows raised as he realized three others had also joined them– that purple vigilante from one (he supposes it was actually verging on two) day ago, the little knife guy that called himself Robin, and a new kid who’s whole face was on display and was having an animated conversation with Robin. His costume was bright blue and red and looked fully homemade which reminded Peter almost of a reverse color design of Peter’s original suit. Minus the mask and goggles obviously.
Sighing and leaning his head back, Peter shut his eyes before trying to organize everything that’s gone on in the span of the past few days. Seriously, too much has happened in too little time for him to be able to keep track of it all.
So: Peter was taken to another universe which Karen most likely has scans of that they can use to get Peter back home eventually. Until that’s built, he’s stuck here indefinitely. But before he came to this actual universe, he was stuck in this little pocket reality known as the Speed Force, which seems to just be pure energy from what he understands. Then, he crash landed about a year ago before he lost his memory of whatever happened between then and now. Somehow in that time span, he died and Hood found him crawling out of his grave. Peter then met Hood, they chatted for a bit, and then Peter proceeded to be homeless for about a week (he’s assuming). Then Peter met Bernard (who he still needs to check up on. Maybe he’ll put aside his slight hatred for Red Robin and ask the guy) and then he got involved in that whole fiasco with that Croc guy and the dude with the gas or whatever that was.
Then he crashlanded and was in the hospital where he met Leslie there, got “interrogated” (Peter feels like it was really the other way around), got a shower, got a bit better than he was, and then had to flee quickly because Batman was coming (who Peter is becoming convinced the more he knows the guy that he isn’t as bad as some of the others (namely Hood) make him out to be), and then went to the safehouse. He then made some alfredo, took a terrible nap, and then had a solid conversation with Hood, then revealed whatever happened with Kid Flash, met a ton of the superheroes from this world, and now he was suddenly on his way to meet even more.
There’s some random person impersonating (at least they’re pretty sure they’re impersonating) Batman in order to (possibly) trick them all into turning on one another.
Out of all of that, Peter’s pretty sure he can tell whoever he meets at this Hall of Justice next to none of it. Hell, he’ll just have to hope that no one knows how to tell if he’s lying or can read minds. Maybe he’ll just have to tell partial truths and omit the rest if they ask something that he doesn’t think should be revealed just yet. After all, there's a loophole to everything.
His senses nagged at the back of his mind, sending cold pins and needles down his spine that he tried to ignore, knowing that they were trying to warn him that someone was staring right at him. But hopefully, just maybe, they’ll stop if he just pretends to be asleep. If he just slows his breathing a tad bit more– fully relaxes himself– they’ll leave him alone.
He tried doing that one exercise Matt had tried to get him to do– to fully understand his surroundings. But since Peter’s not exactly blind, he can’t develop the ability the same way as Matt, but rather has to expand upon ones he already has. He has to try to sense the vibrations around the area– expand his spider senses to be able to feel the gravitational pull from every object in the area.
Try to see without seeing. Ignore everything else and just let yourself feel.
“Hey.”
Peter tried to turn a deaf ear to the person in front of him, ignoring the heavily sweet smell of blue raspberry that was wafting off their breath. He really doesn’t want to deal with this right now.
“Hey.” Whoever it was placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke a bit louder this time.
Peter slowly opened his eyes, trying to portray his annoyance through just his lenses alone as he decided to finally give in because at least it wasn’t Red Robin.
Instead, it was the kid that had accompanied Robin from before– the one in the handmade red and blue costume. It was more or less just an outfit– the kid had a zip up hoodie on with a big S symbol at the chest and ripped jeans on, a set of converse on his feet. His black hair was tousled and a single curl draped down over his forehead, his blue eyes wide as he stared at Peter.
“Good morning.”
Peter blinked at him, sending a nod his way before he looked at the time on his HUD. “It’s 3am, kid.”
“Yep, morning.” He held his hand out, his fist clenched towards Peter.
Peter promptly gave the kid a fistbump, unsure of what he wanted.
The kid frowned. “No. Hold your hand out.”
Tentatively, Peter flattened his palm as he warily waited for the kid to hand him whatever it was that he was planning to give him. Seriously, he’s gotten too many weird things handed to him by kids. Once, some little blonde toddler had given him a bowl full of grass and requested that Peter eat the “salad” the kid made for him. Peter had to lie to the kid and say that grass was toxic for people. Hopefully the kid stopped giving people grass salads.
A small green ring was placed into Peter’s hands. It looked like it would be a little too big for Peter and had a very nice green crystal at its centerpiece.
“Oh wow,” Peter said, surprised. “This is very nice. But I can’t keep it–”
The kid suddenly fell over as though he fainted, Robin running to catch the other as he sent a glare towards Peter before he must’ve noticed the ring. “Kryptonite!”
All the heads on the ship whipped towards Peter, whose eyes were wide as he stood up to try to help the kid before Robin yanked the other teen away from Peter.
“Stay away from him! You’re poisoning him!”
“What?” Peter leaned down and the kid in blue writhed in Robin’s arms.
“Get away!” Robin practically shoved Peter away, and Hood pulled Peter further away as Red Robin, Kid Flash, Tigress, and Nightwing all surrounded the kid, a pool of dread gathering at the pit of Peter’s stomach as he stared down at the ring in his hand.
Hood must’ve spotted it because he quickly snatched it out of Peter’s hand before he looked at it. “What the fuck are ya’ doin’ with Kryptonite?”
“What?”
Hood shoved the ring at Peter. “This.”
Peter blinked at it before looking down at the group that had become a group huddle at that point. Red Robin turned to face him, his staff expanded as he pointed it at Peter. “I didn’t–”
“How did ya’ even get ahold of Kryptonite? Why would ya’ use it against a fuckin’ Kryptonian? Were ya’ tryna kill him?”
Peter felt something catch in his throat as his breathing picked up. “What’s– what is going on?”
“The fuck do ya’ mean–”
Giggles cut through the plane as the crowd in the middle dispersed with groans and grumbles, the kid in blue quite literally flying to his feet as Red Robin lowered his staff before retracting it and walking back to the front of the plane. Robin and the kid kept laughing as Robin pointed at Peter, his laugh almost condescending. “You know, I thought you were an idiot when we first met, but I didn’t think you’d fall for fake Kryptonite.”
Peter stared at Robin for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed. “What the Hell is Kryptonite?”
The smile on the other kid’s face shrank as Robin’s only expanded. “Oh so you’re an actual idiot?”
“What?”
“How do you not know what Kryptonite is?” The other kid blurted, an incredulous look on his face. “Do you live under a rock? Is that Patrick Star under that mask of yours?”
Peter barked a laugh (mostly out of confusion), staring between the two of them before his mind caught up to what Hood had said. Kryptonite. Kryptonite kills Kryptonians. He’s assuming this kid in the blue is a Kryptonian (whatever that is). Fake Kryptonite ring. The kid gave him a fake ring and then had Peter fake murder him.
Snorting, Peter shook his head as he looked between the two, putting a hand on his face. “What is wrong with this place?”
“Hate ta’ break it ta’ ya’ kid,” Hood started, “that’s not the worst those two’ll do.”
Peter plopped himself back down in his seat trying (and failing) to relax for the rest of the flight.
…
The plane touched down not long later and Peter found himself weirdly surprised that it was just about a forty-five minute long trip. He practically ran out of the plane (get him out of that goddamn sensory nightmare (that smell of lemon was too damn much and Peter was in too close of proximity to too many people he didn’t exactly trust.))
Luckily enough for him, he’ll probably be in an even more overly crowded room in about ten minutes.
This universe just loves to hate on Peter.
Looking at the Hall of Justice from the outside, Peter was mildly reminded of his one visit to D.C. (which makes no sense since he’s in Ohio of all places), especially seeing the pillars and arches that made up the majority of the architecture. It was honestly impressive.
It wasn’t flashy like the Avengers Tower– it looked like it was an actual government building. It wasn’t meant to stand out– it was just meant to be theirs.
Walking inside, Peter practically gawked at the architecture– it was all so intricate and carefully created. Murals adorned multiple walls and Peter noticed that there were various heroes Peter still had yet to recognize in most of them. To be fair, the only ones he recognized were the ones he was with, and even then, most of them weren’t in any of the murals.
There was one that caught his eye– a hero in red and blue with a big S on his chest just like that one kid. Looking at him, Peter probably could’ve thought that kid was probably that guy’s son. Looking between the Flash and Kid Flash as well as Batman and Hood, Peter wouldn’t be surprised if other heroes brought their kids into this whole mess.
“Webs. Quit gawkin’ at Superman.” Hood pat him on the back before leading him into the next room they had to make their way through.
Peter scoffed. “I was not gawking.”
“You so were,” Red Robin piped in.
“Ew, you were gawking at my dad?”
“I mean, we knew you were into older men earlier with the whole Nightwing thing, but jeez man. I didn’t think you went married and has kids type of old.” Kid Flash snickered as Peter groaned.
“Wait– Superman?” Peter laughed at the ridiculous name. “He’s so good at his job he gets to be called Superman?”
“Basically.” The kid in blue shrugged.
“So what’s that make you? Superboy?”
The kid blinked at him. “Yes, that’s what I go by.” He turned to look at Hood. “Seriously, where did you find this guy?”
“In a graveyard,” Peter said happily, allowing the various confused and concerned looks that were sent his way linger for a moment.
“A graveyard?” Tigress asked, her tone disbelieving.
“Yep!” Peter popped the p. “Weirdest experience of my life.”
“Weird how?” Robin asked, eyes narrowed.
“Well, I mean–” Peter gestured towards his chest and the scorch marks that riddled his suit there. “Hood blew me up.”
“He what?” Nightwing whipped his head around.
“I blew ‘im up,” Hood said, nodding alongside Peter.
“You–” Nightwing’s brows furrowed. “What–”
“He then electrocuted me right after. It was great.”
“Well, yeah. Had to revive ya’ somehow, kid.” Hood crossed his arms.
“You killed him?” Nightwing nearly stopped in his tracks, slowing down to walk with them all.
“I mean, we just said that,” Peter said, shrugging. “It really doesn’t have to be that big of a deal, Nightwing.”
“I dunno,” Black Bat started, a sly smile on her own face that let Peter know that she somehow saw through their lie. “Murder is pretty serious.”
The vigilante in purple scoffed. “As though that stopped Hood before.”
“What were you even doing with bombs in a graveyard?” Superboy asked, and eyebrow raised in concern.
“Taking out the zombies, obviously.” Hood shrugged.
“Woah, woah, wait. Gotham has zombies?” Kid Flash asked, eyes wide.
Nightwing’s face scrunched for a moment before he realized in an expression that let Peter know the guy finally understood the joke. “Yeah, I thought we talked about this before at a Team meeting.”
“Yeah– I remember,” Tigress added, a knowing smile on her own face.
“Batman–” Superboy asked, getting the attention of the older vigilante. “There’s no zombies in Gotham, right?”
Batman simply looked over his shoulder and smiled at Superboy, which made both his and Kid Flash’s eyes widen as they stared at each other in ure panic. Kid Flash whipped his head to look at Peter. “Wait– you aren’t a zombie, are you? Is that why you don’t remember anything from the past year?”
“No– I’m not a zombie. Just a missed target,” Peter chuckled.
“But you were brought back–”
“That’t not what a zombie is, Kid Flash,” Red Robin said, sporting his own smile.
“Yeah, way to be insensative KF,” the girl in purple mocked, her eyes crinkled into a smile (finally someone with a mask that actually covers their face (except for Hood)).
“I’m not being insensative–”
“We’re here,” Batman interrupted, which made Peter tense as nerves bubbled to the surface once again.
He’s about to enter a room with a ton of this universe’s superheroes. Practically their Avengers, but seemingly much, much bigger. pure terror.
“Holy shit— are you a zombie?” Kid Flash asked Peter, giving him an odd look at screamed judgement.
“Nah, he’s no zombie, Hood began. “He jus’ got stuck in all of it when he got here.”
“You’re sure?” Superboy asked.
“We’re sure.” Peter snorted. “I’m a solid ninety percent sure I don’t wanna eat your brains right now.”
“Only ninety?” The purple vigilante asked, her head tilting.
“Well I mean, I’m half spider. Kinda makes you have weird cravings sometimes.” Peter shrugged as Kid Flash and Superboy took big steps away from him. “Powers can have their perks but also their disadvantages.”
“You… you don’t eat people, right?” Kid Flash asked cautiously.
“No, that’s more that style of this one alien guy I know named Venom.” Disguising a laugh as a cough, Peter tried to keep a straight face. “But I did learn one thing from him. Chocolate helps a bit. Has this one chemical in it that brains also do.”
Peter looked over to see the horrified looked Kid Flash and Superboy were giving him cracked up, most of the others following him as Kid Flash and Superboy’s expressions morphed into confusion.
“What’s so funny?” Superboy asked.
Kid Flash elbowed him in the ribs, annoyance etching his features as he glared at Peter. “They were messing with us.”
Looking at Peter for a moment, Superboy remained wary. “…So you don’t eat brains?”
Peter shook his head. “Never have, never will.” He faked a shiver. “I know my powers can do a lot, but I don’t know what they can do against prion diseases. Honestly, I don’t wanna find out.”
The group stopped in front of a large set of mahogany double doors that had intricate leaf designs etched into them. Batman opened multiple security panels for them all, Peter felt the anxiety that had been building since they stepped foot in the plane return full force as he leaned to the side to tap one foot in the wake of the suspense.
Peter honestly doesn’t know what to expect. Will there be tens, maybe hundreds of people in this room or will there be closer to ten? He saw tons of different people on the murals, but who’s to say none of them have left or died? It’s also nearly four o‘clock in the morning, and while Peter isn’t sure where most of the heroes of this universe work, he doubts it’s New York since the Bats had mentioned there being hardly any heroes there. But if the location of the Hall of Justice is central to them all, then Peter has to assume that most of them are probably in the Eastern U.S.
So hopefully most of them won’t show up because they’re asleep.
After Batman hit a few buttons and scanned a few things, the doors slid open to reveal a meeting room that was larger than Happy’s apartment that Peter had stayed in before it was destroyed. Hell, it was probably bigger.
Peter looked around the room, noting the large round table that had nearly every seat around it filled. There had to have been at least fifty people in the room before they all stepped in.
Something in Peter’s chest squeezed at the thought that he’ll have to try to plead his case in front of this whole group of people. And if they’re anything like Batman— skeptical, suspicious, and willing to challenge Peter— he’ll be in for a field day.
“Batman.” A black haired woman stood up. She had a primarily red, blue, and yellow suit on with a gold headband and gold bracelets on his arms that looked as though they were more for protection than anything, and a lasso that sat at her hip. Her face was drawn into a serious expression and just based on her stance alone, Peter was somehow reminded of Natasha once again. She stood tall— confident and ready for whatever was going to come her way. “What did you call this meeting for?”