Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Red Hood was having a horrible night. His comms was malfunctioning, his balance was off, he had a terrible fight with Nightwing over another stupid decision he’d made. They were chasing a strange new meta in Gotham that had been scaring citizens, although it was more to prevent something to happen rather than locking them up in Arkham; Batman just wanted him out of his city. Red Hood didn’t like to team up much, but this wasn’t just a patrol. In the past, when everything was going wrong during missions, he’d lash out; he wasn’t proud of his past actions—no matter how justified he felt—, so he adopted a new technique to manage his frustration: stand on the roof of a suspicious building in the dark, pressing his back against a wall and count the seconds until he felt like he could function.

One; two; three.

However, unknown forces were working overtime that night, because just when Red Hood was calming down, he heard them: footsteps. He thought someone was approaching him, but he was well hidden, there was no way someone had seen him. He decided to open his eyes, confront the problem face-to-face.

Four; five; six.

The full moon was low and shining like a theater light, he’d never seen it shine so bright in Gotham. It made the city look… livable, as if it had swum through the oceans and oceans of pollution that were there, only to light up his night. And for a moment, it was beautiful. Nevertheless, the small shadow standing on the ledge, looking up at the empty dark sky—what were they thinking, they were as still as a statue—made him snap back to reality pretty quickly. A frame so small it had to be child, one underfed and lonely, one about to jump.

Red Hood ran to him.

Seven; eight.

His clothes were baggy and flowing with the strong cold wind. Red Hood thought the child had to be cold; he was so small that the vigilante wondered how the wind wasn’t picking him up and stealing it away. The child’s head slowly turned to him, the light of the moon was directly behind him, so he couldn’t see his face. It was as if he were looking at a ghost, an imaginary product. Like the child wasn’t quite there. He could only see a bright hazel eye, it was uncanny, almost at the point of demonic. He still ran.

Nine.

“NO!” Red Hood screamed at the child.

Ten.

The kid had jumped.

Red Hood looked over the ledge, there was nothing. Was his mind playing tricks with him? Was he going insane? Had the child… died? It was just four seconds; he failed for four seconds. “No, no, no…” he kept repeating. The moon was mocking him, its light simulating the kid’s eyes. He lost another battle; he just kept on losing tonight. He couldn’t be a hero, not like that, not that broken.

“Red Hood, can you hear me? Red Hood? Shoot, is this still not working?” He heard Babs from her comms. The undead vigilante wasn’t ready to face his family, so he turned the comms off after a quick: taking a break, don’t follow. The quiet surrounded him, settling under his skin like a threat. As if it were going to hurt him, crush him even. Then he realized.

It was quiet. Even for a Gothamite, if a kid falls to their death in front of them, they’ll scream. But there wasn’t one sound coming from the street, just people trying to make it home before curfew without getting mugged. Was Red Hood actually losing it?

The moon will sing a song for me

I loved you like the sun

Under his hand there was hidden a wireless headphone playing a song he had never heard. He chuckled; the whole situation was ridiculous. With the little earpiece he ran inside the building once again, the song kept playing until he reached the first floor. “Disconnected” was said by the little earpiece along with a ‘disconnected’ tune, to indicate it was too far from the source. Red Hood tucked it inside his jacket pocket. That kid was out there, he was alive, who knows for how long. Crime Alley was dangerous, and the idea of a child being alone (a suicidal child, at that) made him mad.

Red Hood turned his comms on again: “Everyone, be on the lookout for a kid, around fourteen maybe, with suicidal tendencies. He is listening to music, but only has one earpiece, I have the other one.” He prayed to every deity he didn’t believe in and the few ones he kinda did that the comm was working.

“Copy that, Red Hood. Physical description?”

“I couldn’t see his face well, but he was skinny, and his eyes were almost amber.”

“Roger that, little wing.”

He hoped he would find the kid before he saw his plan through.

Peter was FUCKED. All capitals because it was serious. He was toying around with a machine he totally had permission to use, just your simple, run-of-the-mill, super not dangerous quantum reactor that can turn you into a tiny human and send you to a realm where the concept of time and space make absolutely no sense and the dangers there are yet undiscovered. Well, one the positive side, Peter discovered one of those dangers: A section of the realm full of black holes that attract anything smaller than them.  

“SHIT! FUCK! FUCK! HOLY SHIT!” Peter yelled as he was being sucked into a dark green abyss. He felt his body disintegrate and piece itself together (shit—not again!) He wanted to puke, pass out, stop the pain. It was worse than Titan, worse than the experiments Oscorp and the C.I.A. made him suffer through with the new S.S serum. It wasn’t until what felt like hours had passed that he finally passed out of the pain. He knew he wasn’t going to die—because it seemed that ‘the eternal rest’ was just a 10-minute nap to him—but he still feared what was going to happen.

He woke up, maybe. He wasn’t sure. Everything around him was green and way too hot. His muscles ached and was hard to move them. He needed to get out before he drowned, so he shot a web, but it quickly dissolved in the goo.

“So, this is it?” Maybe this time he’d died. Maybe he’s time had come. He lost everyone after all; he would be happy to see them again.

He stayed there, not drowning, for a few days.

Then the pit spat him out. He wasn’t little anymore, he still had his quantum suit on, but it was completely butchered, as if it had been burned. His ‘watch’ was fine, of course it was Stark-Parker Tech was indestructible, Peter had built it following a prototype blueprint Mr. Stark had left him. It had his spider-suit inside.

Peter puked out some remaining goo. It smelled worse than it tasted, if he had to define the taste he’d describe it as a very strong fertilizer.

Danger: Nearby.

There were more people around. Peter seemed to be in a lab, the pit he came out of was now empty and all the goo was stuck to the walls, slowly fading away.

“Systems Compromised. Initiating self-destruction.” An alarm started going off. Peter jumped to a wall, startled. Shit, he really had the worst luck.

“Mr. Heinz! We need to evacuate!”

“Why!? Every! Damn! Time!”

Danger: Dumb Evil.

The scientist came in the lab and saw the mess that Peter had made. The evil scientist, who had a lab coat with ‘Mr. Heinz Mirtz’ embroidered in it. “You… YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!” Mr. Heinz grabbed a gun and pointed to the little spider. Peter was unimpressed, but glad he had the quantum suit on. Even if it was almost gone, he still had his face covered.

“Dude. The building is about to go kaboom, and you wanna shoot a teenager? Where even am I? Is this still New York?” Can’t they recognize me?

“Yes, it’s New York! This is Mirtz Evil Inc. And we’ll take over the Tri-State Area! You see, my parents missed my birth and—”

“No time.” Peter webbed the two scientists so tight, they couldn’t move and took them out of the exploding basement.

The building was collapsing, but Peter was fast enough to avoid the falling debris. The main door was locked, and the windows weren’t wide enough to fit all three of them through them.

“Peter, there’s a balcony on the second floor, you can get out from there.” Karen spoke through the headphones on the quantum suit.

“Karen, glad you survived the green goo.”

“Glad you did, too. There’s too much to explain, but don’t reveal your identity as Spider-Man and get out fast.”

He elevated all of them up to the second floor and ran until he reached the balcony. The sign outside said: Olive Garden. This place was a joke.

The building collapsed completely, there were a lot of people outside, clearly clients and staff. The place may have been a front for illegal experimentation, but they were making booming business. Ha, get it? Because boom and the place just fucking exploded.

People were taking their phones out to record; Peter was about to swing away when a voice stopped him:

“Who are you, weird spider boy?” Uhh, so close.

“Uhm, Perry. Perry the Spider.”

“Curse you, Perry the Spider!” Peter escaped the scene as fast as he could.

His senses were going wild; he tried finding something he knew: his school, his friends, his home, the Avenger’s Tower. Even if nobody remembered Peter Parker, they would remember Spidey. But everywhere he looked, there weren’t a trace of his old life. It couldn’t be… Please, don’t say it is what he thinks. Peter decided to rest in a very sketchy, but empty alley. It smelled awful, and he still felt danger all around him. So, he hid in the trash, where it felt somewhat safe.

He let the panic set in, his whole body stopped moving, weighing him down. Tears started to run like crazy, the little spider wanted to scream, but he was afraid someone would hear him. Where would he go? Where would he live? Of all the universes out there, how did he end up there?

“Peter,” Karen said, sternly. “What are five things you can see around you?” He couldn’t answer, he still needed to cry. “I can’t access to the anti-panic modes of the quantum suit, so you’ll need to weep all your tears on your own. I’m so sorry, Peter.”

“I- Fuck.”

“Language.”

He cried a little longer, until his eyes started to ache too much to continue.

“What are five things you can see around you, Peter?”

“I’m better, Karen. I don’t need to—”

“I’ll repeat, name five things you can see.” Damn, she changed tone. Peter wanted to laugh at that, but it hurt his stomach.

“It’s dark, I can’t…” It shocked Peter the realization that he was able to see through the darkness. He knew the place wasn’t completely devoid of light, but it was like he had a flashlight next to him. “I can see a banana pill, some vomit, my toes, someone else’s toe, and a Wonder Woman sticker, who’s her?”

“Four things you can touch.”

“I don’t wanna think about it, to be honest.”

“Three things you can hear.”

“A bike, a cat fight in one of the floors of the building next door, a TV playing some old movie.”

“Two things you can smell.”

“Pee and rotting food.”

“Now, one thing you can taste.”

“The weird goo.”

“Congrats, Peter. Your heart rate came back to its normal-abnormal rhythm. I believe you are ready to hear where you are. As you noticed, this is another universe. The heroes you knew aren’t here, but there are similar powered people called metas and even different teams that resemble the Avengers. Would you like to know more?” Karen told him all the information she was able to find in this universe data base, she wasn’t able to find the same names of the people Peter already knew, or even another Spider-Man. Most superheroes had dumb names, he noted. There was Superman, and Wonder Woman, and so many more. Peter’s brain was fried. Metas, outside of the JL, weren’t treated kindly as they can be seen as a nuisance or a threat. Karen informed Peter that he would be considered an Alpha level threat, which made him feel icky.

He didn’t want to be an Alpha male; he respected women way too much for that.

He let himself relax, which was a big mistake. Because two seconds later, the garbage truck came and scooped him out.

Fuck.

Peter ended up in a landfill, in a city he hadn’t heard before. Gotham. It was dark, cold, and his senses were screaming to get out. He should’ve been scared, but he was calmer than ever. Maybe the polluted air had fried his brain, or the string of bad luck finally made him go insane; yet, he had hope. A place with no Peter Parker, with no Spider-Man. So many possibilities, so many people to help. He could start again, be a hero for the first time again. But first, he needed music.

“Karen, do you still have my playlists?”

“Yes, Peter.”

“Great, I’ll build some headphones. I think I’ll start with Twenty-One Pilots.”

Chapter Text

It wasn’t Peter’s intention to make the Bats mad. He just happened to lose one of his headphones and the GPS he installed in it because he knew he was going to lose them just happened to lead him to their ultra secret, hard-to-break-into, gothic and FUCK— IS THAT A DINOSAUR? Batcave. According to a quick scan Karen realized of the city, she noticed a way to enter directly to the Batcave without having to enter the Wayne Manor (apparently, Brucie Wayne, the biggest himbo in the city, was a sponsor of the JL and had a commands center in his basement). Which he tried to avoid when dressed as Spider-Man, because what do playboy billionaires had in common? They liked to adopt troubled kids. And he wasn’t going through that again. Now, where was it?

Nearby. Nearby.

It was around here somewhere, right? Damn, these Bats were good at hiding shit. First, they chase him all throughout the city because of a stupid ‘No Metas’ rule; Second, that Red Hood guy tried to catch him by surprise when he wasn’t even in costume and took one of headphones. He couldn’t build another one, the materials were hard to find, and he really didn’t want to commit a B&E just to listen to his favorite music. It wasn’t very heroic.

Danger: Coming.

Peter climbed up the wall and hid in the shadows, while trying to locate his headphone from above. Red Robin came in, wearing his mask and the top of his suit, but the bottoms were just sweatpants he slipped into before coming in. The Cave was very cold, so it wasn’t surprising they would use extra clothes inside. His black hair was shiny and lustrous; Peter was envious because his hair was an unruly mess of split ends.

“I have it, Hood. I can’t recognize the tech, ‘s not Wayne’s. Looks self-made, actually. Pretty impressive. How old you said the kid was?”

“He was short and skinny, so I bet he was around fourteen, maybe fifteen.”

Were they talking about him? He was turning sixteen soon! He just had little to eat these days, and the spider bite made him grew slower than the rest.

“Good news, it has a GPS installed. So, if you give me a few days, I could use it to back-trace the owner.”

“Hope you find something, and that the kid is still around.” Oh, they didn’t know it belonged to him. Did Red Hood think…? Oh god. Well, that’s concerning, but now he just needs to take the earpiece, maybe leave a note: found it, I’m alive, not dying any time soon. He felt bad for Red Hood, thinking that you couldn’t save a child. He needed to apologize.

“Do you think he lives in Crime Alley?”

“No, not really. I’d ‘ve seen him if that were the case.”

“You didn’t see his face, though. How would you have recognized him?”

“Because he would’ve tried to jump again.” Red Hood’s voice was stern, scary. However, he sounded wounded, even if only a little bit. Peter wanted to make him feel better, he had to see him soon. “I have to leave you, RR. Nature calls.”

“Gross.” RR hanged up. He studied the piece a little more. Spider-Man thought about how to retrieve it. He activated his suit just to be safe. He moved a little closer, maybe he should just ask for it or steal it with a web. Maybe immobilize Red Robin until he gets out? So many possibilities. He tried taking one more step closer, but he stepped too hard, and RR turned his head towards him. “Who’s there?” Spider-Man slowly revealed himself, shyly. He was afraid to upset the dude even further.

Danger: Anger. Danger: Ready to attack.

“Hey, man. Look, could you give me—” He couldn’t finish his sentence because RR launched himself at Peter. What a pain. Spidey could recognize that the taller boy was strong and very fast, but not enough to land a punch against him without his reflexes acting up. Peter wasn’t going to fight; he just wanted to listen to sad Spanish music in peace.

“How did you get in?”

“I’m amazing like that.”

“Go away, you spider freak. What are you doing here?”

“I’m trying to tell you; I don’t usually break into places.” He was kind of lying.

“I mean here in Gotham.” RR jumped. Spidey dodged.

“Uh, sightseeing. I love polluted skies and burgers named after birds and bats.” Spider-Man noticed RR was fighting without the intention of hurting him, maybe just stop him. It impressed him how much control over his body he possessed. He knew what areas he should punch, which ones to avoid and he didn’t even take out his weapon that was nearby. He was nice. Nevertheless, Peter couldn’t entertain him much longer, since he already had plans to take care of, so he grabbed the earpiece with one of his webs and took off.

He could hear RR following him, but it wasn’t long until he lost him. That was a fun warm-up.

Peter swung throughout Gotham, until he got to Crime Alley, Red Hood’s area. He was usually patrolling around on his bike. Peter’s seen him before, so he was confident he’d be able to find the vigilante.

Around. Left.

His Spidey-senses were guiding the teenager towards Red, who was heroically eating an XXL batburger and had ketchup on his cheek.

“Yo’ Ketchup!” Danger: On guard. “I heard you were looking for the owner of this little earpiece.”

“How did you steal it?” Danger: Angry. Preparing for a fight. Shit, Peter, you dumb fuck. “Whattcha want?”

“Nothin’, I swear. The kid is looking for it, I’ll tell him you have it and will give it back to him tonight at 7 p.m.”

“What? How’d y’know?”

“I have very good senses; I saw him looking for it and told the kid I’d help him find it. But I found out what happened that night, and I think he’d feel better if you didn’t worry about him. So, tonight, outside of Robinson Park, 7.p.m Don’t be late.” Danger: suspicious. Red Hood’s anger was dissipating; however, he was as mistrusting as before. Danger: observing.

“Sure, twat.” Then he closed the door.

Peter was still living in the landfill; it made sense for him to live somewhere with access to broken electronics and strange chemicals. He decided to use the compostable trash to make some fertilizer for the little plants left in Gotham. The air and water were so polluted, they needed all the help they could get. He had some ideas for a pollution vacuum, a big machine that traps the contaminants in the air, separating them to create clean air, and then divide the atoms to form new, safe gases. However, he needed much more resources, energy and time to make it and test it.

Should he contact Brucie Wayne?

For now, he was fine taking care of the garden in Robinson Park. It was a small gesture he could do in civilian form to help the city.

Friend: nearby.

Friend?

The man with an ugly red helmet rode in with his bike, he was using an all-leather outfit. He brought a bag that seemed heavy. “Hey, have you seen—?” He stopped mid-sentence when he saw his face. “It’s you kid, nice to see your face.” Friend: worried. Red Hood was looking him up and down, searching for answers as to why he was in that roof that night.

“Hey, Mr. Hood!”

“Mr. Hood is my father, and I hate my father—” Lie? “So, call me Red Hood, or Red, or Hood. Just, drop the mister.”

“Sure, uh. You had my headphone, right? I’m so glad it didn’t get stolen. It took me so long to make them, I swear. The pieces were hard to find.”

“You built them?” Red Hood was surprised. He didn’t expect the kid to be so carefree and chatty.

“Yeah. I used to have a mentor that saw potential in me. He left me tons of blueprints when he passed away.”

“Shit, sorry to hear, kiddo. Was he your guardian?” Red Hood started helping Peter to fertilize the plants.

“No, no. I used to live with my aunt, but she passed away, too. I am emancipated.” He lied, of course. He didn’t want to worry Red Hood further. The red vigilante didn’t believe him.

“Are ya’ hungry, kid? We can get some batburgers.” Peter was about to decline, but his stomach betrayed him with a strong roar. “I’ll take that as a yes, hope on the bike.”

“You just don’t want to touch the fertilizer.”

“Guilty as charged, kid.”

“I’m Peter, not kid.”

“Nice to meet you, Peter.”

‘The kid hasn’t eaten in days’ was the first thing Red Hood noticed. His face was sunken in, making his toxic amber eyes pop even more. His hair had various white spots. He looked like shit. The second thing was his age, even if it was more mature than what he expected, it still was the face of a child. A deeply troubled child.

“So, Peter,” Red Hood started speaking, while the teenager was inhaling his burger. “You’re that spider meta, right?” Peter choked.

“What? Uh?”

“You’re a horrible liar. I’ve been at this for a while. That spider dude just so happened to see you, you told him what happened, mentioned me and stole it from the bats just because he wanted to help a random kid. I don’t buy it.”

“You’re not wrong, but also that’s totally something I would do.” Great, another child vigilante with no sense of self-preservation.

“You said you live alone, where? I’ll drop you off when we’re done.” It was test, of course it was. Red Hood wanted to see how the other would react. Peter was a bad liar, he wore his heart on his sleeve, unlike him. He was a kid.

“Why are you worried? I can take care of myself.”

“Who said I was worried? You can’t even see my face.”

“Who answers a question with another question, dumbass?”

“Apparently you, asshole.” They looked at each other for a few seconds before Peter broke the tension by laughing. “I know you haven’t been eating; I can tell. If you’re homeless, or you need money, I can help you.”

“Ain’t ya’ a crime lord or something? That’s awfully nice for someone so nonchalant about committing actual murder.” Peter’s nose was tweaking, and he was biting the inside of his lip, looking at the vigilante but hiding his gaze behind his frown. Red Hood was somewhat pissed at that comment, but he was sure there was something behind those hurtful words.

“What can I say, I’m multifaceted. Don’t try to put me in a box.”

“You weren’t supposed to answer me kindly. Be a dick.”

“That’s my brother’s job. I prefer being an asshole. Different body part.”

“Gross.” Peter laughed. Jason thought the kid was adorable. “I… Well, there’s no easy way to respond. I live in the landfills just outside of Gotham.” That wasn’t what Jason was expecting. Yeah, this kid’s not leaving his sight now. “I have everything I need there, promise.”

“No, don’t believe ya’. If you need a place to crash, you can live with me. Or I can introduce you to some folks, they will let you stay there in a heartbeat.”

“Thanks, but there’s no need.”

Red Hood sneered and finished his burger. He knew if Bruce could see through the whole meta thing, he’d adopt Peter in a heartbeat. Ivy and Harls would also take him in. But there was something about the kid: his crude language, his honesty, or maybe he just thought he was funny. Oh, no. Kidnapping was hereditary.

Jason offered Peter a ride on his bike, which the teen accepted without thinking twice. The plan was simple, take the kid to the library where he had backup if he tried to escape and then force on him a stable roof, food and a weird family. You know, the dream for any teen vigilante. Then, when Jason just turned the second to last corner, he felt the kid letting go and swinging away with a web.

“Sorry, Hood. Catch ya’ later.”

Fucking kid.

Chapter Text

Gotham Public Library was a magical place. Filled with books, knowledge, a drunk guy that could recite Shakespeare perfectly if he weren’t too busy vomiting. It was quiet, underfunded and the perfect place to do some cyber-vigilantism. Like signing up for school because you’re too bored during the day. It is a known fact that Peter Parker was a huge nerd, and even if school wasn’t his favorite place ever—he still missed the normalcy, maybe shock people with his wits and smarts, have some friends, or something Peter Parker could do.

Even if history were to repeat itself, and everyone were to die again, and everyone were to leave again.

Even if Peter was alone.

He couldn’t bring himself to type in the computer. So, Karen did it.

“Didn’t you want this?”

“I did. I do.”

Friend? Maybe. Observing. Observing.

The woman at the desk—the one with bright red hair and a wheelchair, he thought her name was Barbara—was looking at him with eyes sharp as an eagle’s. He needed a library card to use the computer for more than an hour, he saw the sign with the rules, however she told him he was free to use it for as long as he wanted. She knew him, but why? Had Red Hood said something about him? Was his identity revealed? Was he going to get kidnapped and not by a cool pill-shaped head vigilante? How many paths could he take as escape routes? Two windows on the second floor, the bathroom window, the fire alarm could help. Karen could hack into the system and cause a black out. If needed, he’ll fight. Maybe she is a part-time wheelchair user, or maybe she’s freakishly good at hand-to-hand combat, so he needed to be ready.

“Peter.”

“Karen.”

“You’ll take the level exam next week, they need to know which classes to put you in. You’ll need two number 2 pencils, a sharpener, an eraser and a form of ID. I took the liberty of making one, you just need to print it and put it together.” That would be quite easy, he had already done it once before, after the experiments of the super soldier serum.

Then, he just needed to create a whole new identity, but it wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Nobody really cared about looking into it. He heard the woman approaching, so he stood up and went straight for the bathroom window.

Which was locked, fuck. Who locks the bathroom?

Getting closer. Someone else has entered. Friend.

At least they weren’t gonna murder him.

“Thanks for the heads-up, Babs.”

“Sure, Red. He really looks like that picture, same clothes and everything. Like he doesn’t have another outfit.”

“That has to be the reason he smells like ass.”

“I don’t smell like— no, actually, fair. I’ve been living in the trash for too long.” He couldn’t argue, he didn’t have enough money to do laundry and aside from his spider-suit, he didn’t have another change of clothes. “How did you know, Hood?”

“How did I know what?”

“That I was here.”

“I sent a picture of you to a few of my friends that I knew you’d eventually meet. Like Babs, and Ivy, and Harls…”

“Someone else…?”

Please don’t say—

“Batman.”

FUCK. Has he told them everything? His identity? His powers? Were they going to send him away or locked him up because he was meta? He didn’t want to fight; he didn’t want to be the bad guy. Why were they looking at him like that? What did those eyes mean? Please, someone say something. Don’t look, stop. Peter ran to the stairs as fast as he could, he jumped various steps to move faster and then jumped out the window. Friend: nearby. Running towards you. Yes, he was friendly. He should’ve been able to trust him, but his spidey-senses have failed him before. Because people change, because people might think they are doing the right thing by hurting you. He needed to escape, so spidey-senses: where?

Left, friendly.

Peter turned and immediately sensed a guy running and jumping from building to building, almost too fast to be noticed. But he was there: Red Robin.

“Yo’ Red Robin! Help!”

Scooped.

Great, Nice Hair is bridal carrying him while running. He’s strong. That’s… nice.

“So, what are you running from?”

“Red Hood is trying to kidnap me or adopt me, dude’s crazy.” RR laughed.

“No way… oh my god, the guys are gonna riot.” The teen vigilante was having a field day with that revelation. He seemed nicer than before, maybe because he was interacting with a civilian or just someone that hadn’t just broken into his lair. “So, I’m assuming you don’t want to be adopted by Hood. Are you the headphone guy? You’re older than what he said.”

“Yeah, I made those myself.”

“Really? They were impressive, they could block outside noise and also mold into your ear shape. Dude, that’s so cool!” Peter blushed at the compliments. It always was like that, he liked being praised just fine, but it was still so embarrassing. Why did he say it so earnestly? Peter hadn’t prepared himself to gloat yet! “Wait, is that why you don’t wanna live with him? Because he lost your headphone? Because I can assure you, it was a hundred percent that spider guy’s fault.”

“No, no. I asked Spider-Man to return it to me, he owed me a favor. I wanted to explain the situation to Hood ‘cause I’m pretty sure he thought I was a jumper. WHICH I’M NOT, like… Idojumpbutasasportlikeparkoury’know?whichissofunnybecausemylastnameisParkerwhichiskindasimilartoparkoursomaybeitwasmeant… to… be.” He was rambling… oh, so much rambling. “Please, drop me and let me die of embarrassment alone…”

“Peter, the speed of your thoughts is exceeding my reading sensors limitations. Slow down your brain.” Karen said in his earpiece.

RR still laughed at him and put him down slowly. He couldn’t continue running laughing like that. He had to hold his stomach and crouch. Peter’s face was getting redder by the second. “Do you have to laugh like that at my embarrassment?” Peter wanted to hide and never come out again. That only made Red Robin cackle even harder, like a hyena.

“RR, are you still with the kid?” Peter heard Red Hood said through the comms.

“What kid? He’s like my age!” Red Robin protested, but Red Hood just said an ironic ‘so...?’ “He’s fine, he’s here. I’m so telling B about this.”

“You didn’t know about me?” Peter was surprised. Red Robin just sorts of looked at him puzzled, but with a smile answered:

“Well, not really. Hood’s good at the whole secret thing. He only tells us stuff if he’s really worried. I don’t like to admit it, but he’s not a bad dude. Just an asshole.”

Red Hood wasn’t expecting for Peter to still be waiting for him in the roof. He thought the teenager would’ve been hiding miles away by now, but there he was, with an anxious look painted on his face. He turned to him before he even made any noise, like he could feel his presence somehow. Red Hood decided to sit next to him, it calmed him. Logically, he knew that even if the kid jumped, he’d be fine, but the little seed of worry was planted deep in his heart.

The eyes of Peter weren’t glowing as much. Probably because it was the daytime. So, they just look like a very pretty and light shade of hazel. He looked scared of something, and Jason wasn’t the best at dealing with emotions. So, he just sat there, waiting for a sign to do something.

“How much do the rest know?”

“Just that you’re a kid that lives alone, and I don’t like that. Gotham is dangerous, even for a meta. Especially for a meta. But they don’t know that your secret is safe with me.” You’re safe with me.

“I’ve been betrayed before.”

“Me too.”

“You don’t really know me.”

“True.”

“I could be bad. I could be dangerous. I— I am dangerous. I might hurt you, and you’ll regret ever living with me. I will escape from my bedroom, and if there’s a curfew, I won’t obey it. I run into stupid and dangerous situations all the time and I don’t care. I refuse to kill and use weapons, but I have killed before. My powers are constantly evolving, and I don’t know if I can tell you why.” Peter was trying to get away, slowly. As if he were locking himself up inside his body. Trapping his soul in his throat but every word was a desperate attempt to get out.

“Then why are you still here?”

Peter broke down, finally. He seemed like he needed that.

“Because I thought I could just be Spider-Man, I thought if I stopped being Peter Parker, I could avoid the parts that made me vulnerable. I thought I could stop my heart from growing warm and needy, maybe I could’ve turned it to stone and just focus my energy in being what the world needed me to be. A hero. But I’m a fucking idiot, because I couldn’t stop being a kid. I missed hugs and kisses, and freshly cooked family dinners at the table, or even reheated food that tastes horrible but… but they are good because you’re with family.

»I thought so many things and did the complete opposite. Right now, my brain is saying ‘run! Run because it will be your last chance to stick to your plan!’ but my senses and actions are begging me to stop and just ask you to take me home, give me a warm plate of food and just rest. Because I’m so tired…” Spider-Man was a hero, he was strong and unpredictable, his words made no sense, and his brain worked too fast to form coherent trains of thought. Peter Parker was a scared child, who craved a place in the world, who was vulnerable to a fault and tried to cover up scars with jokes and stickers instead of band-aids. Both statements were true, and Jason felt like he was watching a mirror to the past.

He hugged him, hard. Maybe the correct amount of pressure would make his brain calm down and allowed him to take a breath.

“We’re going home, Peter.” Jason took out his helmet and his mask. Because Peter had to see him smile.

Friend? Brother? Dad?

Home.

Jason’s home wasn’t big. It was a simple two-bedroom apartment, very small. It felt crowded even if they were only two people. The air ran unusually cold; there was a strange humming coming from the walls and the bathroom had water damage. The neighbors weren’t the best either, they were loud snorers, or they had very loud fights (and even louder reconciliations); nonetheless, the fridge was stocked with food, almost too full to close, his bedroom—which used to be Jason’s studio—had a very warm blanket and a library with old books he never had a chance to read, like a story called Renegades, Anna Karenina and Great Expectations. It was almost like Jason couldn’t figure out what type of books Peter might enjoy, so he picked a wide selection. The light in the hallway flickered every three seconds or so, making a clicking noise every time, but the light had stickers on it, and his room had those glow-in-the-dark stars that he always wanted to have but couldn’t because May’s landlord wouldn’t allow it.

Everything around him was welcoming, even if it was objectively failing. Jason made both of them dinner, just pasta with store-bought pesto, but he bought the off-brand pesto that ended up tasting weirdly acidic. It was still good, and Peter was so hungry he just ate it.

Jason decided to put on a movie, to cut out the tension and get Peter to relax in the new environment. He wasn’t sure what to put on, though. Maybe a drama, so they have something interesting to discuss, or a comedy to help Peter wind out. There were so many options. Slasher; horror; rom com; parody; whatever Twisted Pair by Neil Breen was. Jason was being crushed by the weight of choice and free-will. Why had God not been merciful and rid Jason of the power of worry over his actions and facing consequences?

Oh, how shall he face madness with nothing but an amused grin and nails to rip out his chest when he inevitably fails?

“Yo’ Jay, do you Shrek, like the first one?”

Salvation.

They put on Shrek and Peter started repeating the dialogs like an echo. Jay was used to noises and talking during a movie, so he wasn’t upset. It was rather funny how he could remember every single line of the characters to a T, hitting the cadence and tone every single time. It reminded Jason of Duke a little bit.

Speaking of teenagers.

“Wait, do you go to school?”

“I’m taking the entrance exam tomorrow.”

“Shouldn’t you be studying? I feel like I should tell you to at least open a book.”

Peter laughed cockily, which took Jason by surprise, “I have never studied in my life. And I already know almost all of the curriculum anyways. I have a pretty good memory, so that also helps.” The older guy wanted to pit Peter and his younger brother, Tim, in a battle of the wits. “Also, if I didn’t know something already, Karen would’ve electrocuted my wrist until I had opened a textbook.”

“Who?”

“Hello, Mr. Red Hood. I’m Karen, Peter Parker’s—and by extension Spider-Man’s—AI assistant. I am a semi-conscious machine designed to aid Peter in life, as well as protect him when he’s Spider-Man.”

Jason had so many questions.

They spent a good while talking about their abilities, their past, and how they ended up where they are. Pete decided to not tell him about the other universe, or the Avengers. He decided to tell him about his powers, and the experiments they’ve ran on him. The guardians he had and had passed away.

“So, after I was bit, my powers were just sticking to walls, super strength, enhanced speed, healing and senses. It sucked at first, but I got used to it. After the experiments they ran on me, I became more similar to a spider, I grew spinnerets in my wrists—don’t look at me like that, I know what you’re thinking, I won’t tell you—, I could regenerate limbs, I grew fangs and a paralyzing venom, it’s not lethal, I think.”

“Please… don’t tell me there’s more.”

Peter chuckled.

Peter was happy that Jay didn’t try to pry into his personal life but still cared enough to be curious. He gave him time to open up. Slowly but surely, Peter felt comfortable and safe enough to start falling asleep. He was happy, they day had been long and tomorrow his new life officially started. He was fucking ready.

Well, not really. But he felt better than before.

Chapter Text

“It’s here!” Peter came running to Jason’s room and jumped so high, he had to stick to the ceiling. It had been a month since they started living together, yet Jason still found it strange how easily Peter could just… do that, like it was the easiest thing in the world. “Jay, Jay! The letter arrived!”

“Ok, spider wing, show me how smart are you.”

Peter had full marks, in everything. He received the Wayne scholarship all on his own, he hadn’t told his dad Peter was living with him, although they changed his address information to Crime Alley. Jason hugged the kid and hanged the letter in the fridge with a Nightwing magnet.

Peter thought this called for celebration, and what better way to celebrate being put in all the advance classes than to beat up bad guys. Spider-Man was coming Gotham! “Karen, Karen, spider me up!” He didn’t usually use the voice command, but he was so happy that his thoughts weren’t clear enough to use the mind commands.

“Oh, now you’re a magical girl.” Jason laughed at him as Spider-Man’s iron-spider suit unraveled. The lights were dimming; the sounds were dampening. All the unnecessary sensory input was fading away. He was ready. “Ok, how do you have that suit? It’s fucking badass.”

“I had a good teacher. I can make it play music: Britney Spears,” he started swiping his finger on his char and changing the songs. “Conan Gray, HUNTR/X, uhm this one.”

“Oh, fuck.”

THIS AIN’T A SONG FOR THE BROKEN-HEARTED.

Red Robin had been visiting the outskirts of Crime Alley more often, curious of the guy his brother had taken a liking to. He was his age, so he probably went to his school, but he hadn’t seen him there. Of course, he wasn’t the reason he was patrolling the area—just the reason he offered to take most shifts; can’t blame a guy for being curious about technology and bullying his brother—, no. There was suspicious activity on the area, there’ve been spotted some of Penguin’s goons coming in and out of that zone. Radiation was started to go up, and recently they’ve found the blueprints of a weapon with the power to turn the whole state into Chernobyl.

Because this mission was so dangerous, he was surprised to find out there was already someone fighting the goons. The guy with a spider-themed suit grabbed two of the goons with some type of web and made them crash into each other.

It’s my life

Is now or never

“Aw, totally ship you, guys.” He said to the unconscious and trapped goons. He wasn’t fighting in just one style, he kicked, webbed, punched, sent people flying. He was all over the place. Red Robin was cautious. The spider guy turned his head to look at him, as if he had just dropped something and made a lot of noise. Red Robin was taken aback. “Oh my god, a hottie!” Uh?

The goons noticed him and came for him. RR sighed because he didn’t have the upper hand anymore, that pissed him off. He had a plan, and now he had to change every strategy and just…wing it.

“Why did you cover up your hair? That’s kinda lame.” Lame? No, don’t get distracted. More fighting, less squashing the bug. “Behind you.” RR punched one of the goons behind him, spider boy grabbed him with a web and hanged them from the ceiling.

“How does that work? Are you Meta?”

“Maybe, or maybe it’s just my suit. Don’t you love a good enigma?”

Red Robin kicked one of the guys and sent him flying to other three goons, as if he was bowling. Spider dude seemed to cackle at that, but quickly seemed to stop, grabbed Red Robin and took him out of the building. “What the heck, man? What’d you do that for?”

“Are you protected from radiation?” The spider was on top of him, he was light and in any other circumstances, Tim would’ve been able to kick him out. But he was webbed, and it was a very disgusting feeling.

“What?” The building they’ve just been fighting in started to irradiate a green and brown substance, like a very dense gas.

“They were trying to lock us up there, I think. It clearly wasn’t planned.”

“I knew that, spider. I had a plan. You ruined it.” Tim was gonna sneak into the building, place bugs, scan the area and report back. He had to know what they needed to defeat them, what he had to invent.

“Oh, sorry ‘bout that. I can still go in and do something.”

“Are ya’ fucking crazy, dumbass? If you go in there, you’ll be back with eight limbs and a hundred eyes.”

“Like a spider.” The idiot in front of him teased him, lowering his stance a little.

“Like an idiot. I just had to place the bugs—say something and I’ll punch you—but now, they’ll change position.”

“If they can get rid of this base so easily, they must have the main operation somewhere else. These guys weren’t scared of the radiation, like it wasn’t gonna hurt them. They must have been exposed already or have some kind of protection. I’ll go look for it.” A little knife came out of the suit, in the back of his hand, and cut open the webs.

“No, you’ve done enough. I should take you to B, you know there’s a no Meta rule here, spider boy.”

“I haven’t seen a signal saying that.” He mocked. He was getting under RR’s skin. “Also, you won’t be able to. I’m faster, stronger” he was getting closer “, and cuter than you. So, I don’t think—” RR threw a punch that he caught.

He tried to kick him, scratch him, anything. Spider just dodged. When Tim threw himself at him, the other one jumped and took off his hood; luckily, he had a mask under it.

“I’ll send you a signal when I find something. Don’t worry.”

“I’ll find something first.”

“Bet. If you do, I’ll do anything you want.” Itsy bitsy spider shot a web at Tim and pulled him closer. Tim was taller, so he had to look down which he though appropriate. “However, if I win, you’ll let me use the Batcave, I don’t care if you have to hide me from daddy bats.”

“No way.”

“Red chicken.”

“Itsy bitsy spider.”

“It’s Spider-Man.” Now Tim had to laugh. “Don’t put that face, I can’t see it, but you’re doing that face.” He sounded flustered.

“I don’t trust you, but I am pretty—”

“You are.”

“Pretty amazing, so I believe that I can easily beat you. It’s on.” He heard Spider-Man gulped, and he ran.

How was he gonna contact him, then!?

He was putting on his hood but felt something in it. It was a mini metal spider, with turned-off lights around its legs. That fucker.

There was a plethora of names one could use to describe Peter Parker: Strong, nerdy, superhuman, loser. Flash had taken a liking to calling him Penis Parker, so you could also use penis, maybe. Don’t. Nevertheless, there was one word he could never denied described him perfectly, like a well-tailored suit or a latex glove: Fanboy. He’d seen the bats fight before, they were amazing, well-coordinated, flexible and strong. ONE OF THEM HAD A KATANA!

That’s why he couldn’t erase the dumb smile he had on his face after fighting alongside (and then against) Red Robin. He loved it. It reminded him of the past, fighting with the Avengers. Oh, we wanted to fight again! It felt amazing!

However, he couldn’t now. He was going to be late for class if he didn’t hurry. And Jay would kill him.

“Eat your breakfast, kid. I packed it, already.” Jason said, handing him a red container that smelled like pancakes.

“Aw, thanks mom. I didn’t know you cook.” Peter teased.

“I don’t. I asked a friend to make and deliver ‘em. Now go, or I’ll cut your head off.” You could try.

Peter ran out the door and instead of taking the bus—which he hated because it was loud, smelly and also, this was Gotham, the possibility of that bus getting kidnapped was high—, he decided to take the roof route. It was faster, and he didn’t want to be late. He was already the new, not rich kid, what if he caught the wrong attention? He was aiming for next-to-mediocrity, just above complete average.

He made it just in time, he came in from the roof. Spidey-senses didn’t see anyone watching him. The school was big enough to be a castle, Peter felt misplaced. That was funny to him, he didn’t belong… again… what a way to be a weirdo.

According to the letter, he had to go to student advisory and wait there for his tour guide. He was allowed to miss the first period to get to know the school. As he walked through the corridors, he noticed the type of students that went there: polished-uniforms, brand-new sneakers, expensive watches and jewelry. Rich-rich people, Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne type of rich. Peter looked at his worn-down shoes with two different shoelaces (one pink and one black), he had to change one because a moth ate it, his second-hand uniform and his messy hair.

He arrived at the door that said student advisory and he knocked the door; soon enough, he heard the voice of a girl telling him to come in.

There, there was waiting a tall blonde girl, she had very soft and nice features, but her eyes were similar to Pepper’s. She was reading him, trying to assess how to talk to him, the way a rich and influential person would before introducing themselves to someone at a gala. Peter felt judged, he was afraid she was gonna mistreat him because of his obvious social standing. However, his senses said differently.

Friend: Watching. Friend: Happy.

“Oh my gosh, hi! I’m Stephanie Brown, but you can call me Steph. You’re a cutie! I wanna force feed you my brother’s cow.” Is this what people call whiplash?

“Hey, I’m Peter Parker. I just started.” Then he read the tour guide pin on her jacket. “But you knew that, already.”

“Yeah, I’ll show you around the school, I already have your schedule, so I know where to go. You are smart, all AP classes, biochem and engineering. I need to introduce you to my family, do you have any parents, Peter?”

“I’m sorry?”

“That’s not a yes, even so, that hasn’t stopped dad before. Doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”

Steph was weird, she had the bubbly personality and the looks of a popular girl, but her random comments and her faux air-headedness made Peter warm up to her faster. She didn’t feel high school dangerous, she was a calming presence but the way it is calmed before a storm. She was strong, observant, with her feet on the ground.

So, yeah. Stephanie Brown was weird. But Peter can handle weird.

She couldn’t shut up, she talked about all her siblings: “We were all sort of adopted, not really but kind of,” her interests: “no, you don’t get it, I rock Mario Kart,” and her ideas: “I’m thinking of studying marketing, I think I’d be good at it”.

“And this is your class, which should be starting in,” she looks at her watch “three, two, one.” The bell rang; Peter gave an impressed chuckle.

“That was gold.”

“I’m that good, Pete! See ya at lunch!”

Tim was still annoyed about last night’s patrol. He could be out there, winning his bet with Spider-Man, but no. “You have to study,” said his father, “if you miss any more classes, you’ll get held back.” And what did that matter? He already has a job secured at WE, he’s been supervising Wayne Tech for a year. Even so, he couldn’t argue with Bruce, he could consider this effort his Father’s Day present.

At lunch, Steph was telling him and Duke everything they missed the last hour. “The new kid, oh gosh, he’s a cutie. He’s like a puppy, but he also has like a sleeper build, for sure. Maybe he did ballet, or acrobatics. And he was so happy when walking around, I swear his eyes actually lit up when I showed him the lab, he’s such a nerd. A cute nerd.”

“Sounds like you have a little crush, Steph,” teased Duke.

“You do like fit nerds,” added Tim.

“So funny, but he’s not my type. Oh, there he is. PETER! Peter, here!” Tim looked at Peter and his food fell out of his mouth. That was Hood’s running kid. He looked better than before, more fed, cleaner. He was still wearing his headphones.

But why was he wet?

“What happened to you?” Direct Duke, great.

“A kid in my class had to make a presentation about the cycle of water, he splashed all of us with water. These are my only clothes, so I couldn’t change.” Peter said while shuddering. Tim wanted to give him a hug and sit him next to a chimney. Steph was probably thinking the same thing. “The presentation was cool, though. She made a water purifier prototype.

“I need to introduce you, please sit. These are two of my sibs, Duke Thomas, the beam of light in my life, and Tim Drake, a stupid face.”

“Wow, I feel so loved, now.”

“He’s the new guy, Peter Parker. He moved to Gotham, recently.” Peter smiled at them while he sat down.

“Nice to meet you,” Peter smiled at them, quite shy. Tim took a better look at him. He was slender, and the uniform was one size to big. His face was round; his hair was fluffy and a very pretty brown. His eyes were… hypnotic. A shade of hazel he’d never seen before, they were too big for his face and too bright for Gotham.

“Likewise, it’s weird to see new faces around here, no one moves to Gotham. What happened? Which crime lord you angered?”

“Red Hood, I like getting on his case.”

Steph expelled her beverage through her nose.

“Ow, burns, burns, burns. What do you mean you angered Red Hood?” Steph looked at Duke and Tim, who nodded at her. A ray of recognition flashed through her eyes.

“We had a misunderstanding, then I ran from him. We are cool now; he even helped me find a place. I’m living with a friend of his.”

He doesn’t have any friends.

“Cool, cool, cool. No, yeah. We are gonna need so much more info.”

“Not much to tell. I didn’t plan to stay here, but it happened. Red Hood found me when I was in a roof, not doing anything weird, I do acrobatics and parkour in my free time. He thought something else was going on, we met again, he tried to kidnap me, Red Robin bridal-carried me away from him but I decided to talk to him. Yada, yada. Now I’m living with a friend of his.”

Tim had (not) forgotten about that. He thanked his training at that moment, because his insides were burning with embarrassment. Stephanie chortled, Duke was about to do a spit take, and Peter, unaware of the havoc he caused, was trying to clean his shirt.

“Hey, man. I have an extra you can use in my gym locker.” Duke told him and both of them went quickly to get the new uniform.

Steph turned to look at him, her eyes beaming with sneer: “Oh dude. You are never hearing the end of this.”

“Stoooooop.”

And then, Duke saw it. He had to tell someone, anyone. Why hadn’t Jay informed them? It was extremely important information. It didn’t even occur to him, because Peter hadn’t reacted to him. So, why? Why was he meta?

Peter was fit, he saw that. But on his back, there were a few bumps that looked like craters, like something grew from there. He had fangs, too.

But what confirmed it, at least to him, was when he turned off the light with his powers.

“Oh, shit. It went out. Don’t worry, it’ll be back in a moment.” He wanted to make sure, because something was bothering him. Steph seemed to notice, even gave them clues. Tim… he had rose-colored glasses on. He found a new toy to play with, a new smart-buddy.

“Man, I hope it’s not the whole school.” Peter’s eyes were shining, golden power irradiating from his face.

Duke expelled the light again. Peter’s face returned to normal, his big eyes were just a bit unnatural, not enough to be noticeable. His fangs were present, but cute. His face was pale, but somewhat rosy.

When Duke went home, he called Jason, he needed to know if his theory was correct.

“What?”

“Jason, is Peter a vampire?”

Jason hanged up.

Chapter Text

Jason laughed his ass off. Duke was a smart kid, with a great heart. His tone wasn’t accusing, more like genuine concern and curiosity. It wasn’t a crazy thought; Peter was most likely revived like him, and maybe he was part of the Undead, even if he didn’t outright tell him. Jason could see the signs.

Wait… the longer he thinks about it, the more sense it makes. Maybe Peter was a weaken vampire. He had terrible light sensitivity, and fangs. He eats like a maniac and prefers meat over anything else. Furthermore, there are sometimes, Jason swore, that Peter could see the future, predict a danger. Of course, there were tons of his spider traits that meshed with Vampires, and some that didn’t; even so, it’s not a one-size fits all type of deal. Each Vamp had their own unique trait.

Jason spiraled down this train of thought for a while. Until Peter shot him a text:

Met your siblings, we’re going to Batburger after school.

See you at dinner, then patrol :D

“Alfred, I need you to pass me a great recipe with a lot of meat.”

“Sure, Master Jason.”

Jason had been cooking all day: beef stew with potatoes, Yaprak, chicken Milanesas, and other plates with the meat that he had left. He basically had served an entire farm; the little demon brat would kill him if he saw it. He wasn’t going to lie to himself, Jason felt proud of all the food he cooked. Peter ate like a beast (another point for the Vampire theory) but even him shouldn’t be able to finish all of it.

At 9 p.m. the door opened, Peter came in and greeted Jason with a casual: “Hey, Jay red!” He suddenly stopped, taking in the strong smell of the food. The older guy could practically hear the kid’s mouth becoming water, “that smells great! Whatcha cooking?” He practically flew to the kitchen, where all the food was laid, ready to be eaten.

“I think I went overboard.”

“This is awesome!” The smile in Peter’s face was contagious. If it weren’t for the horrible thoughts going through Jason’s mind, he’d also be smiling from ear to ear, “what are we celebrating?”

“Well, your first day of school. I think it should be celebrated, right?”

Peter ran to hug him, which calmed his brain a little. How someone so warm be a Vampire?

Jason hugged back.

They started eating like never before. It tasted amazing, if a little burnt. At some point, they both noticed they weren’t going to leave left-overs, they were growing boys after all. Peter told him everything about his day, from the water-gun fight to their outing to batburger. Jason felt a weight being lifted from his shoulders after hearing how much Pete liked his siblings. He was sure the others liked the kid as well.

Then he saw it:

“You haven’t touched the stew, something wrong with it?” God, he sounded like a grandmother, or worse… Alfred.

“No, no. Just… it has garlic and I’m kind of allergic. I have a few allergies, maybe I should give you a list.”

Okay, it was time to ask. Jason gathered courage, and his gaze turned serious. Peter was already expecting it, the older vigilante could tell. “So, Peter. I’ve been meaning to ask you something, it’s about your past,” he was already regretting it. “I know you don’t like to talk about it, and if you aren’t ready to tell I won’t pressure you, but… are you a Vampire?”

“Huh?”

“I get it if you aren’t ready to talk—”

“Vampires are real!? That’s so cool! Do they combust in the sunlight, or do they shine? Wait, never mind. You think I’m a Vampire?”

“Well, now I don’t,” Jason remarked. “Did you just make a Twilight reference?”

“I’m not a Vampire, I’m part spider. I don’t know where you got that idea. Spiders are intolerant to garlic, too. If you stab me with a stake, I will die, but that’s because everyone would die if you stabbed them with a stake!” Peter was holding a laughter, Jason wanted to bury himself and never come out. This wasn’t like him. “I appreciate the concern, though. I suppose Vamps aren’t a good thing around here.”

See, it’s moment like those, when Peter talked about common knowledge stuff without a clue that tripped Jason up. Where had he been that he was so unaware of everything that had been going on for the past fifty years? Jason was scared of the answer, because his experience taught him to always expect the worst. And when he looked at Peter’s face, his bright expressions, his young and carefree smile, Jay knew he couldn’t bear to see him suffer. However, he recognized that look, the one that means he saw too much. And Jason wondered if there was a way to protect him.

God, when did he become such a sap?

Peter was a Queen’s baby. Which meant he loved fast food, at least to him. He and Ned loved Sal’s Pizza, WcDoland’s special WcAvenger and Soobway’s footlong. However, Jason was apparently very strict with not letting him so much fast food. It wasn’t like he cooked, or anything, they would mostly order take out from restaurants that wouldn’t give them high cholesterol at 24. Which is why, when Steph suggested they go to batburger for the new figurines they released, Peter agreed in a heartbeat.

The new action figures had shiny details, like Nightwing’s blue stripes (he also has a bigger butt, Peter wondered if the real Nightwing had any say in that) and Orphan’s hoodie. Because Spider-Man was mostly confided to Crime Alley, Peter hadn’t met most of the vigilantes, even if he did look up videos of them fighting, so he was a little biased when it came to favorites. Red Hood and Red Robin took the crown, of course.

If he took a Red Hood figurine home, Jason would pretend not to cry, probably.

Peter didn’t want to deal with that.

All of them ordered an ungodly amount of food, apparently Duke also had a striking appetite. They tried competing to see who could eat more batnuggets. They tasted horrible, so Peter lost. He was still hungry, so he went to town on those burgers, but first he scraped off the sauce.

“You don’t like garlic, Pete?” Duke asked him, with faux sarcasm.

“I’m allergic.” Stephanie shared a look with her brother, while Tim offered him all his non-garlic sauces. “Thank you!” Then, Stephanie shared another look with his other brother. Peter was too focused on his food to care; he did notice how all three of their heartbeats skipped a beat.

They ate everything, their stomachs were turning themselves upside down. They were about to die. It was great!

“’Kay, my dudes! ‘Tis the moment to open our dolls.”

“ACTION FIGURES!” Tim corrected. Peter agreed.

“Action figures, blah, blah.” Steph mocked him, rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue. Her blonde hair moved a little bit too much with each gesture.

They all opened their batboxes. Duke had Orphan, which he seemed very happy with; Steph had Harley Quinn, and Peter couldn’t interpret her expression, but she looked satisfied enough; Peter had Kite-man, which was disappointing, who the fuck was Kite-man? It wasn’t even one of the new ones; Tim had Red Robin. The Red Robin figure was perfect, the bright details on the cape that simulated wings, his shiny hair that fell over his shoulders like the prince of a fairytale, his smirk—a bit cocky, a bit cheeky—was spot on. It was definitely one of the best they had. There was only one thing that was wrong:

“They didn’t detail his abs,” Peter exclaimed, sadly. The rest looked at him with shock. “I mean, well… They did it for Kite-man and Orphan, so…”

“Does Red Robin… even have abs?”

“HE DOES! They aren’t as flashy as Nightwing’s, but if you look closely, you can see them peeking out and flexing, like when he’s fighting.”

Tim went quiet, but his heart started going a thousand beats per minute. Peter’s did too, so he wasn’t sure if he was hearing correctly. Does Tim like RR, too? Shucks.

“Is there anything else wrong with that doll?” Peter was expecting Tim to shout: Action figure again, but he didn’t. The spider vigilante didn’t want to answer. “Maybe the shape of his… eyes? Or the tone of his skin?”

“Red Robin does have a very unique pigment,” Duke teased as well.

“Maybe it’s the shape of his ass,” Peter jumped at that with a:

“Well… I mean, he does have a good butt. It’s cute. He’s cute—not that I know, I mean I only saw him once, but I took a good look, not in a weird way or creepy, like a stalker, I’m not a stalker, I just saw with appreciation,” Peter started rambling so fast, he felt his tongue was about to come off. He wanted to stop, but for some reason he couldn’t.

“Hey, Peter. Are you, like, in love with Red Robin?”

“No! It’s just a crush. Like one you’d have with a celebrity, someone you’d never meet.”

“But this is Gotham, you could meet him,” Duke explained with a smile. He played with his Orphan figure.

“And the chances of him noticing me in the middle of a fight are zero to none, so I’m happy just having a crush. Besides, maybe he doesn’t even like guys, although that would be very boring if he ended up being straight.”

“RR likes guys, he used to date Superboy,” Peter wanted to barf at that name. He saw pictures of the Superfamily; they were all way too perfect. He was aware they weren’t human, but it still gave him the chills to see gorgeous, perfect men being gorgeous and perfect.

“Then, I will wait for him each night by my window.”

They were getting ready to leave and packing their figurines, when Tim stopped him and offered him his Red Robin, with the face red like a tomato an avoiding his gaze.

“I… I already have a Red Robin, and he isn’t even my favorite. So, if you want it—” Peter jumped in the arms of his friend, so happy he could keep that action figure. It was stunning.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

So, this is how he dies.

Tim was fine with that. Dying in the arms of a cute boy with hazel doe-like eyes is absolutely one of the best ways to go. He will be the envy of everyone in heaven (or hell). However, he didn’t die, and Peter left beaming, and Tim could only stand there, with a knot in his stomach he had only felt with Kon. His siblings were giving him looks that made him feel uncomfortable.

“I’ll tell Alfred your patrol will be longer tonight. He can come up with an excuse, so B isn’t up your ass all night.”

“Yeah… thanks.”

A few nights later, after saving a few people from being beaten to a pulp and gathering a bit of intel on the Penguin situation. Tim decided to look around Gotham. He wasn’t going to see Peter in his RR suit, that would’ve been too suspicious.

But…

If he just so happened to see him jumping, and flexing his muscles, and smiling, he’d be fine with that. Instead, sadly, he encountered a little spider with too much free time.

Spiderman was sitting on the side of a building, like gravity was a joke to him. Maybe that was his power, treating everything like a joke. Oh, he hoped not, he didn’t want a vigilante version of the Joker, especially if it comes with eight legs.

His white “eyes” lit up when he saw Red Robin. “Hello there, beautiful.” He said, with a gulp stuck in his throat. Tim was happy when he heard someone had a crush on him, but thinking about Spidey seeing him that way made him want to puke.

“Hey, Spidey. You look very creepy like that.” Red Robin crouched and tilted his head, to try and see Spider-Man sitting like regular person and not a spider.

“Like what?” Spider-Man teased, moving his body in an unnatural way, his limbs to bendy and strong, his head bobbing like it wasn’t attached to his head. Soon, and faster than Tim expected, he got too closed to him. Their faces just a few inches away from each other. “Like a spider?” His tone of voice was lower and sultrier. It gave Tim the chills.

“I could kill you right now,” at that Spider-Man laughed “gravity is in my favor.”

“That’s cute. I know you want to hurt me but not actually kill me,”

“How—?” Tim wanted to ask how he knew that with such confidence. Because he was right. As annoying as Spider-Man was, he wasn’t evil. On the contrary, he seemed to be morally better than a lot of people in Gotham. Like pure gold in a coal mine.

“And, believe me, I’d like to see you try. Death doesn’t stick long enough on spiders.”

Tim didn’t have time to fight him and his ridiculous claims. Because his brother had appeared, Red Hood. He was wearing a tired stance along with his suit, as if he had been trying to stay awake for a long while. Spider was happy to see him and quickly broke the distance between them to go to the other red vigilante, with a boyish air to him. He acted around Red Hood the way someone would act near their idol. Red Hood wasn’t cautious of him, rather, he was more than friendly.

“Hey dude.” he at least acknowledged his brother “Spider-mouse, I’m done for the day. Spent the whole day cooking for an ungrateful brat, so I’m beat. So, you’re free to roam Gotham’s sky for as long as you responsibly want.”

“You know Spider?”

“Met him during the whole Peter thing. Anyone capable of annoying the crap out of the bats and still be on the good side has my seal of approval.”

“Aw, Hood. You’re such a softie.” Spider-Man mocked.

“I’ll kick you back to where you came from.”

“Promise?”

Then silence. Awkward, longing silence. An unheard, unthrown punch in the gut.

“I’m off. Bye guys, don’t stay out too late.”

“Bye, Mom!” Teased the demi-arachnid, while Red Robin just stuck to a simple: “Whatever, Hood.”

The Spider and Red Robin looked at each other, and soon they started swinging, they had a bet to win. Spider-Man decided to go to the docks first, RR let him. He thought about another place: The Fashion District, usually busy with people and partied-out teenagers, however it was still a cesspool for kidnappings and petty crimes. The place was so crowded that hiding a base of operation without nobody noticing would be impossible. Luckily, RR had the element of intel, he had eyes during the night and day.

Signal, his favorite brother, told him he found a web of tunnels during his patrol. The web connects at least 4 basements, and they were all very cold—not just Gotham cold, they were true, sub-zero temperatures.

The Bat gave him permission to explore. And he would’ve done it even without it. He was a rebel like that.

The tunnels were old, they were filled up to the brim with cobwebs, grime and dead insects. The air was chilly to the point of freezing his sweat, his eyes were hurting, and the air had a hard time reaching his lungs; however, as soon as he stepped inside the first basement, he noticed the winter wear: fur boots, a leopard print coat and one of those Pikachu hats with the moving ears. God, he looked ridiculous, but at last, he was warm.

As soon as he was ready for the cold, he heard beeping from one of his pockets. It was the Spider-Alarm. The little robot spider turned on and crawled down his legs to the ground. Its legs had now bright red lights which made it easy to follow.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” his father would have said. To which, Tim would’ve had the perfect response: “But satisfaction brought it back.”

And so, he followed the spider through the tunnels and basements. It had a little antenna that seemed to react to something, maybe it was radiation.

Maybe not.

Because at the end, they found Signal, freezing cold and trapped in a very bright room.