Stuck in a Web

It didn’t take long to get to the old Opera House.  Getting inside was even easier as Peter easily pried the wooden planks off the exit door he had broken during his escape from Batman. Jason ended up parking his bike just inside the door, muttering about stolen wheels as he shut the door behind him.  

“So where’s this spider web of yours then?” Jason asked, standing next to Peter and glancing up to the ceiling.  The web looked frayed on edges but still was holding firm enough to keep the heavy stage curtain suspended in the center. “They weren’t kidding when they said it was creepy.  No offence, but if I didn’t know that you made it I’d burn the building down.”

“None taking, there’s like a million low-budget spider themed horror movies with this exact scene in it."

“This exact scene?”

“Y’know, like two people stumbling into an abandoned building and looking up to see a giant spider web.” Peter said as he pulled the sleeve of his jumper up so his spinnerets were on show. “Wanna see if we can find a giant spider up there?”

“I thought you said you made that web?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, so don’t be scared, it’s not like I’m gonna eat you”

“Now when you say things like that I’m pretty sure I should be scared.”

“I was joking.” Peter whined, “Do you wanna go up or not?”

“I’ll get up by myself.” Jason said, reaching into one of the many pockets in his cargo pants and pulling out a grapple gun. “After you.”

“You’re no fun.” Peter said, shooting a web up to the ceiling and pulling himself up quickly.  Landing on the roof he called back down towards Jason. “You wanna see or not.”

Jason quickly grappled his way up one of the metal beams and squatted carefully on the beam, the beam creaking under his weight. 

“This doesn’t seem safe,” Jason mumbled before looking up at Peter, “Get off the ceiling.”

Peter jumped down landing on the beam in front of Jason. 

“I didn’t mean jump.” Jason said. “Thought you fell off, gave me a heart attack.”

“I only fell off once and that’s because Batman drugged me.” Peter said, walking along the beam towards the web.

“Is that even safe? The web, that is, don’t stand on it.” Jason said as he made his way over. “And what do you mean he drugged you, you were up here and he drugged you?!”

“Yeah I went splat on the ground.” Peter grinned as he jumped onto the center of the web on top of the curtain and pointed towards the broken vent. “I was in there and he got Orphan to throw a gas bomb in with me.”

“What the fuck?”

“I thought you knew?”

“No, I didn’t know.” Jason said, eyeing the web Peter was laying on, “I thought it was only the sewer stuff.”

“Nah, like I’m pretty sure I broke a couple of bones in the fall. I would’ve caught myself too if I wasn’t, y’know, drugged.”

“And he’s wondering why you tried running from him, fucking hell kid.” Jason said, choosing to sit down on the beam beside the web instead of going onto it.

“You should’ve seen it, I was so cool.” Peter said, “They thought they got me but I got away, all without injuring anyone.”

“If it wasn’t for Killer Croc you would’ve been long gone huh?”

“I’ll have you know that I was long gone even after the whole Killer Croc situation. You didn’t even get me for an hour.”

“Pretty sure it was closer to two hours,” Jason said.

“Agree to disagree.”

“Clock said two hours, you can’t lie with time.”

“Totally can, I knew this wizard guy who could rewind time.”

“The same wizard guy that made Ned no longer your friend after you made a mistake?” Jason asked, “Couldn’t he just, rewind time and prevent you from making that mistake.”

“No, he couldn't rewind time at that point. Thanos stole his time stone.”

“Thanos?”

“Yeah, big purple ugly alien guy,” Peter said, waving his hand dismissively, “Snapped half the universe including me.”

“Snapped?”

“Yeah, half of everything living in the universe was like snapped out of existence.”

“Sounds… rough?” Jason asked, “So if you were snapped , how did you get back?”

“Tony made a time-travelling machine and stole the stones first and snapped everyone back alive and I think he snapped Thanos out of existence as well… or Thor smashed his head in.  I’m not too sure, I wasn’t actually there and it felt weird to ask considering everyone was pretty… not good after everything.”

“Tony built a time-travelling device and stole the stones first then he just killed Thanos who, if I’m remembering Back to the Future correctly, would mean Thanos didn’t kill half the universe cause he never got the stones.”

“No, that's not how time-travel works. You can’t believe everything you see in movies.”

“Pretty sure you told me movies helped you get two bad guys , whatever that means.”

“Okay but… Thanos did snap everyone, it was like five years later.”

“Why five years later?”

“I don’t know, cause it took him five years to build a time travelling machine?”

“And he couldn’t go back to before half the universe died, he had to do it after?”

“Yeah… I don’t know” Peter whined, “I didn’t ask, I was too busy not being dead.”

“So how does this tie into Ned not being your friend anymore?”

“So basically this happened like a year after and this guy called Mysterio tricked me into revealing my identity basically and then everyone hated me and everyone even associated with me so I asked Doctor Strange– the wizard guy, to help me and he basically told me no and I stole his glowing cube thingy and then other versions of me started coming through from different dimensions along with their bad guys and Strange tried to send them back but at this point we figured out that if we sent them back they were going to die and then more stuff happened and the only way to fix it was to make everyone forget Peter Parker. Which is me by the way.”

“...right, okay. So that means…” Jason sighed, “I actually have no idea what that means.  Everyone’s forgotten you because of an evil wizard?”

“No, he’s not an evil wizard, he's a superhero.”

“... okay ,” Jason said, “We’ll circle back to all that later, let’s go back to that explosion in the lab with Tony.  That seems like a better lead then… that .”

“Right okay, pretty sure none of that has anything to do with this stuff anyways– although it does totally prove that different dimensions have different versions of me although we all look different and I look the same but younger so I think time stuff is involved and oh what if it was the time travelling machine- ”

“No. Peter, one train of thought at a time, I can’t keep up.” Jason said, waving a hand up in defeat. “Stark Industries lab please.  You were in a lab called Stark Industries with a man called Tony Stark.  Let’s talk about him, not time-travelling him, but the man you were in a lab with.”

“It’s the same person but okay, I see your point.” Peter said.

“What does he look like?” Jason asked.

“Is that important?” Peter asked confused, “What about the machine?”

“We’ll get to that later. How old did he look?”

“I think he’s in his late forties or maybe early fifties, I don’t really know. Average looking white guy, brown hair, brown eyes. But he does have this weird beard he’s been rocking for like ages.”

“How so?”

“So like, it’s like this hour glass on his chin and there's two little spikes that go up and nearly touch his moustache.  It’s weird but he’s had it for so long no-one really says anything about it anymore. In fact it would be weirder if he got rid of it.”

“And his name is Tony Stark?”

“Anthony Something Stark, I don’t think he exists in this dimension though so I don’t see how it’s helpful.”

“That’s fine, now the lab. Do you go there often?”

“Yeah, I mean often enough.” Peter said, “He just kind of showed back up into my life despite forgetting me but he’s like… trying to be nice. I don’t know, it’s kind of weird but I’m just kinda happy I got someone y’know? Someone who still–, I don’t know, it’s just good that he’s back even if it’s not exactly the same.”

“I get that,” Jason said, “So is it like a weekly thing that you go there?”

“It’s not really planned but at least once a week.” Peter said.

“Okay and what do you do in the lab?” Jason asked.

“Mechanical stuff, building and fixing things.”

“So only technology, nothing biological?” Jason asks carefully.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Peter asked defensively.

Damian had already informed the family about Peter’s supposed memory issue.  Hearing Peter talk about time travelling wizards and breaking parallel dimensions was definitely helping prove his point.  But under every delusion there was some truth. Stark Industries was one of those things.  Tim and Oracle had scoured everything looking for a match for the -ark In- on the unidentified piece of metal found in Peter, but they had come up with nothing.  Peter was the only real lead they had, false memories and all.  Peter was experimented on and had been found with supposed Stark Industry labelled metal that he claims was from a lab.  It was the only lead any of them had on the topic, and Jason was hell-bent on finding it along with any information on ‘Tony Stark’. His description was far too detailed to be made up.  A scientist in a lab where Peter visited at least once a week.

“I’m just asking because… y’know the spider stuff.  Just double checking.”

“Nah I got bit by this spider on a school trip to Oscorp.” Peter dismissed, “Years before Tony showed up.”

Oscorp.  Definitely Lexcorp Jason decides.  Peter did have some memories then, just jumbled up in between all the nonsense. 

“Okay, so the explosion then. You know what kind of machine it was?”

“No, I’m not sure I think it was just like in the room.  Maybe it blew a fuse or something.  I don’t think we were working on it.”

“Faulty machine?”

“I think so.”

“You said Tony was in the room, was he in the explosion too?”

“Fuck,” Peter sat up looking wide eyed to Jason, “He was, I mean I’m pretty sure. If he was in the room then he could’ve… fuck what if he’s dead?”

“Hey no, calm down, if he was dead then his body would’ve rocked up here and there wasn’t anyone that night brought to the hospital with explosion damage like you.”

“Not if he’s still in the other dimensions.” Peter retorts, “You don’t actually think he’s dead do you? I mean I’m pretty sure I was closer to the machine so–”

“Okay no more Tony Stark talk. You’re getting yourself worked up,” Jason looks at his phone noticing the time at half five, “We gotta head back for dinner now okay?  I’m sure he’s fine.  You said he was a superhero right? A little explosion doesn’t kill superhero’s trust me, I’ve been in loads of explosions over the years and I’m still around aren’t I?”

“Yeah, I guess…” Peter said, “Do we really have to head back to the mansion?”

“Unfortunately, Damian wasn’t kidding about that meal plan you got.” Jason said, standing up, “And I am not spending the night in a giant spider’s web in a haunted Opera House.”

“It’s not haunted… is it?” Peter asks looking around, “I mean I didn’t see any ghosts.”

“Kid, the whole reason this place is called Crime Alley is cause of this place.  Place is cursed, I’m telling ya.” Jason said as he aimed his grapple gun towards a support beam. “You need help getting down?”

“No,” Peter said, flicking his wrist as webbing shot out towards the far wall, “No offense or anything but I think I trust this stuff over that grapple gun you got.”

“Suit yourself.” Jason said and pulled the trigger, giving the thing a tug to make sure it held firmly before lowering himself to the ground.

Arriving at the manor, Jason led Peter back up the stairs towards the room he had woken up in.  Sitting at the end of the bed was Peter’s bag while the now clean and intact hoodie rested neatly on the chest of drawers. 

“Get dressed into a tracksuit or something comfy,” Jason said as he sat on the bed.

“Aren’t you gonna change?"

“No point, you’re the sick one so you gotta play the part.  Comfy clothes to keep them off your back.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Damian’s pretty strung up about you almost dying so he has this whole recovery plan set up.  Comfy clothes and bland food.  The whole nine yards.”

“I didn’t– why’s he so worried anyways? He believes the DNA samples too?”

“Oh he 100% believes that.  He was pretty big on the whole blood is thicker than water when he first got here and now that he’s no longer the youngest he’s trying to prove a point.  Just play along.” Jason says laying down on the bed and taking out his phone, sending a text message about Tony Stark and Stark Industries to Oracle.  Any lead was a lead, even if it involved imaginary wizards. “He’s just trying to be nice even if he comes across as… overbearing. He’s been raised to be the best so now if he’s not the best older brother he might have a breakdown.  Hell, the kid looked up spider repellents and threw everything on the list out. Alfred had to do another grocery shop afterwards, the garden’s a wreck too.  It’s sweet, in a demon spawn kinda way.”

Peter nodded as rummaged through the drawers and pulled out a red tracksuit combo. Heading to the bathroom, he closed the door as he got dressed, dumping the used clothes in the hamper. 

“Y’know that spider repellent stuff doesn’t actually work right, not even on real spiders.” Peter tells Jason through the closed door, “It’s just like if you walked into a room after someone spilled a whole perfume bottle on the rug.  It doesn’t smell bad, it just smells too strong to stick around. But if there was a cake sitting on the counter, you’d still go inside even if the smell gives you a headache.”

“Do all your metaphors contain movie references or food? Is it like a spider thing?”

“No, it’s not a spider thing.” Peter grumbled as he re-enters the room. “It’s just a really good metaphor.”

“Whatever you say Spiderboy,” Jason says as he stands up, “Ready to go?”

“They're not going to do anything weird are they?” Peter hesitates, “And it’s Spider-Man with a hyphen. Not spiderboy”

“Sorry kid, but until you grow at least another foot, it’s gonna be Spider-Boy.” Jason says, holding the door open. “If it makes you feel better I’ll use the hyphen. But yeah, they’re gonna be weird.  Everyone in this building has at least a couple screws loose.  Guess that means you’ll fit right in.”

“I don’t wanna fit in with those guys,” Peter mumbles, following close behind Jason.

“Once you get the all clear from Leslie, I’ll let you crash at mine.” Jason says as they slowly walk through the halls. “With or without parental consent.”

“I’m feeling okay now though,” Peter mumbled. “Can’t we just go now?”

“I hate this place too kid,” Jason stopped at a closed door, Peter’s senses could hear at least six other people on the other side, “Keep stuffing your face and we’ll be out in no time.  That being said, you gotta tell the others about some of the stuff you told me.  They got a lot more connections that can help ya then I do. Play nice for a couple days, take anything useful and go.  They’re gonna try and love bomb ya, especially Dick, don’t fall for it.  And no vigilante talk, don’t give them ideas cause the next thing you know the big bad bats gonna drag you into his fights.”

“I’m like a really good superhero though, even if I’m a bit… vertically challenged at the moment.” Peter insisted, “If they’re really gonna help me get home then I can totally help with their supervillain of the week.”

“No.” Jason points sternly at him, “None of that talk. Take from the rich and don’t give it back to them.  Only take. Don’t give. Got it?.”

“That sounds like horrible advice,” Peter said, “Especially from a superhero, shouldn’t you be like pass it forward not take everything that’s not bolted down.”

“They owe you, not the other way round.” Jason said, hand on the door handle. “No vigilante talk okay? Say okay.”

“Okay.”

Jason nodded, more to himself than at Peter, before slowly opening the door. Peter looked around as he followed Jason to the empty seats near the busy table.  It wasn’t as formal as what Peter expected, a few glances thrown at them as they sat down but it was clear everyone in the room was trying to keep things as relaxed as possible. Everyone’s plate was already piled high, not waiting for them before they started eating.  Peter sat at the end of the table closest to the door with Jason sitting on his left.  At the head of the table beside Peter Damian.  Across from him sat Stephanie, Tim, and another dark haired girl.  They were talking amongst themselves, with the new girl interjecting with sign language every now and then.  Beside Jason sat a dark skinned guy around Stephanie’s age and Dick, Dick sending Peter a friendly smile which Peter returned with a small wave.  He didn’t bother looking at Bruce who sat at the other head of the table.  He could feel the imposing man’s eyes on him and Peter wasn’t in the mood for another interrogation.

Damian was already piling food onto Peter’s plate.  Peter gave a quick glance up at him, as Damian made quick work of filling up his plate.  Potatoes, chicken breasts and a whole chunk of a fancy looking cheese.

“Um… thanks Damian.” Peter said, looking at the odd combination of food on his plate, poking the soft cheese with his fork eyeing the small black spots in it.  Mouldy cheese, the epitome of fancy. 

“It’s not mouldy,” Jason chimed in as he filled his own plate up, “It’s like mushrooms or something.”

“Truffle.” Damian corrected, sitting back down properly in his own chair and pointed his fork at Peter’s plate.  “You need protein, fats, and carbs.  Good fats, not fast food drivel.  Alfred has a case of protein shakes for in between meals in the kitchen.  I will show you them after dinner.” 

“Okay,” Peter nods, they were really serious about that food plan, he should’ve finished that kids meal Tim bought him earlier. Who knows when the next time he’d be able to get fast food again. He nudged the soft cheese again, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Damian said proudly, watching Peter like a hawk until Peter relented and finally put a piece of the cheese in his mouth followed by an awkward grin towards Damian.

“Don’t mind him.  He hasn’t mastered the whole ‘having a normal conversation’ skill yet,”  the new guy said, gesturing towards himself and the mute girl, “I’m Duke, that’s Cass. I think you’ve already met everyone else.”

“I’m Peter.” Peter introduced, waving back at Cass when she waved at him, “Peter Parker, not Wayne.”

Peter took a moment to look at Bruce who only raised an eyebrow at him.

“Told you he’d be upset about that.” Jason said in between mouthfuls of food.

“I don’t see the issue,” Bruce said calmly, “We needed a name for the custody papers and Peter failed to provide one.”

“You didn’t ask.” Peter complained, eyes snapping to Cass as she signed: ‘they did ask’.

“Aren’t you the girl who gassed me?” Peter snapped back causing her to quickly turn away to avoid eye contact.

“Cass? What the hell?” Duke turned wide eyed towards her.

“Peter, we’re really sorry about that,” Dick interjected, “We promise to never do anything like that again isn’t that right Bruce?”

“We won’t gas you again.” Bruce stated calmly, taking a sip out of his glass.

“I don’t like how you said that,” Duke said looking disturbed at Bruce.

“Duke, you’re supposed to be on our side.” Tim said, flicking a pea at him. “Don’t poke holes in his words.”

“No, I think I’m on the ‘no drugging kids’ side.” Duke said throwing the pea back at him, it bounced off Tim’s chest and onto the ground. “Pretty sure you’re supposed to be on my side too.”

“I’m on the ‘it was an accident’ side,” Tim said, picking up a bread roll and aiming for Duke’s head.

“How do you accidently drug a kid?” Duke said, arm twitching in preparation to catch it.

“Don’t throw food at the table.” Bruce said firmly.

“Peter started it.” Tim complained, putting the bread back down.

“Why am I– No I didn’t!” Peter argued back.

“I’m pretty sure you did.” Tim said.

“That’s gaslighting.” Peter said.

“That’s a pretty big word for someone so small.” Tim said.

“I’m ten, of course I’m small.” Peter defended.

“Thought you said you were nineteen.” Dick said with an amused smile.

“I lied, I’m actually almost sixteen.” Peter said. 

“You just said you were ten.” Stephanie pointed out.

“Physically about ten, yeah.” Peter said, glancing over at Jason who just made a ‘continue’ motion with his hand. He supposed he’d have to tell them eventually. Even if they didn’t believe him, he’s still got Jason who promised to at least pretend to believe him.

“How can you be almost sixteen and almost ten at the same time?” Stephaine asked.

“I’m from a parallel dimension.” Peter stated as confidently as he could.

“Peter, just eat your food.” Damian said, having already heard enough.

“I think you should just start at the explosion in the lab.” Jason said, already feeling the awkwardness filling the air. 

“Right so I was with this guy called Tony in his lab and I’m pretty sure one of his machines malfunctioned and blew up and then I just showed up in Gotham,” Peter began, “And I know it’s hard to believe but considering you're all superheroes you should be at least try and help me especially after the sheer amount of injuries I got as a direct result of you guys.”

“We will just…. why would the explosion make you nine years old?” Dick asks.

“It was a time travel machine.”

“A time machine blew up which caused you to end up in a parallel universe specifically just outside Crime Alley in Gotham.  With Bruce’s DNA?” Tim asked, pulling a face that Peter immediately knew meant he didn’t believe him.

“He was in a lab with a man called Tony Stark in New York.” Jason explained. “Place was called Stark Industries and a machine blew up.  Peter’s memory after the explosion is fuzzy but it does match up with the shrapnel that we found with Peter.  It’s a lead.”

“Time travelling is not a lead.” Tim said unamused.

“Shut up Drake, let him speak.” Damian defended, before turning back to Peter, “Who’s Tony Stark? How long have you known him?”

“He’s this billionaire superhero called Iron Man, and he had to build the time machine to kill Thanos.” Peter said he knew they wouldn’t believe him but they may find something. If by some miracle Tony Stark had also been sent into this dimension then they’d find him a lot quicker than Peter could. “I already gave a description to Jason of what he looks like.”

“And I already sent it off to Oracle,” Jason said, turning to Peter, “Don’t tell them about Thanos or the wizard, stick to Stark Industries.”

“Thanos the wizard?” Duke asked, confused.

“Big purple alien guy who stole the time stone off Strange, he’s not a wizard he’s a sorcerer I don’t know the difference but he wasn't wearing a pointy hat so that makes him not a wizard, and anyways–” 

“I literally just told you not to tell them.” Jason muttered, shaking his head as Peter continued.

As Peter was talking, Bruce had already taken his phone out and was looking at the list of recommended child-psychologists Leslie had given him earlier that morning.  Dick leaned over to look at Bruce’s phone and nodded in silent agreement before sitting back up straight to continue listening to Peter’s talk of aliens vs wizards with time machine travel sprinkled in.

“-And then he forgot me because I messed up Strange’s spell and I think I was breaking the multiverse cause all these bad guys started slipping through from the different me’s universes. Then Tony just showed up back into my life, and okay it’s not the same cause he doesn’t remember me and I don’t think I can tell him without risking messing up Strange’s spell, but he still likes me, at least I think he likes me–"

“Peter, we’re gonna ask a friend of ours who has experience with this sort of stuff to come over tomorrow to talk with you.  Is that okay?” Dick asked gently.

“One of your superhero friends?”

“Sort of,” Dick continues, “All you gotta do is tell them what you told us and they’ll help point us in the right direction. Their job is to help us get a better understanding of the situation. Does that make sense?  Just to clear the waters a bit so we can see what we’re swimming in.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Peter says, still it felt like he was walking into a trap, “I’m telling the truth by the way, you’re not gonna send me off to some padded room are you? I mean you do have that piece from Tony’s lab right?  You can run tests on that, something might pop up?”

“We’re not gonna send you off to some ‘padded room’,” Dick reassured, “Just a talk in the library, that’s all.”

Peter nods.

Peter didn’t do much after dinner, after being shown the literal crate of protein drinks in the pantry by Damian, Jason had led him to the manor’s library.  It’s been hours and Jason was still perched in the leather armchair by the lit fireplace reading a leatherbound copy of Pride and Prejudice.  At first Peter was excited seeing the vast collection of first edition books that could buy his entire apartment building let alone his rent, but as the hours ticked by he was getting more and more bored.  Peter liked books but he was also much happier with the internet.  

Peter laid on the sofa across from Jason re-reading the same page of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens over and over as his mind trailed off.  It was so boring.  After trying to read the same paragraph five times he eventually gave up.  Placing the book on the coffee table, he stretched his limbs out to the roof before flopping back down.

“Not a fan of Dickens?”

“I literally cannot bring myself to care about any of the characters in the book.  They’re all so boring .”  Peter groaned, staring up at the ceiling. “As childish as this sounds I gotta ask; do you have games on your phone?”

“No.” Jason said, flipping to a new page while Peter let out another groan.

“What time is it?” Peter asked.

“Half nine, past your bedtime anyways.” Jason snickered.

“You’re not funny,” Peter said, “Who’s the person coming around tomorrow anyways?”

“Haven’t a clue.” 

“You reckon they’ll let me look at that piece of metal you got off me?” Peter asks Jason, “Let me run tests on it or something?”

“Tests for what?”

“Something that will help prove my point.” Peter said, “I know no-one believes me but if I can somehow get evidence that– look from my understanding, every dimension is sort of parallel to each other.  Like expanding as time goes on but somehow never touching.  But if for some reason they did touch, they’d be evidence, atoms fitting together wrong, or mutated elements. Just something to prove it doesn’t belong .”

“Wouldn’t you be the same then?” Jason asks, “Timmy didn’t find any signs that you didn’t belong when he tested your blood.”

“It would be easier to test it on metal, inorganic compounds like metal could still hold certain frequencies whereas organic compounds will filter them out quickly.”

“Test the jumper then.” 

“The jumper’s organic, it’s cotton.”

“The metal’s in the cave and you don’t want to go down there again do you?” Jason said, “Timmy would have tested the shit out of it by now anyways.”

“Not if he didn’t know what he was looking for.”

“Do you even know what you’re looking for?”

“...no” Peter relented, laying back down. 

“Just talk with whatever weirdo they bring in tomorrow and see where that gets us.” Jason sighed, checking the time on his watch. “You should head to bed, I’m gonna head out for a bit.”

Peter yawned but shook his head.

“I’ll come with you.” Peter said as he stood up.

“No you’re not.” Jason said, arms on his shoulders and leading him out the door, “You’re going to bed, I’ll be back before you even wake up.”

“I’m not tired,” Peter complained,  “and I’m not staying here without you.”

“Don’t worry about them, I promised to help with a case they’re working on tonight, everyone but you, Duke and Damian are gonna be gone the whole night. No-ones gonna come for you except the boogieman.”

“Is that an actual threat or are you just making fun of me?”

“Both.” Jason looks up to the top of the stairs towards the angry looking Damian dressed in pj’s. “Perfect. Damian! Why don’t you show Peter around, I gotta head out and Peter’s scared of the boogieman.”

“I am not!” Peter defended.

“Todd, why is Peter still awake?” Damian said, making his way down the stairs, “Doctor Leslie recommended a ten hour sleep and now it’s almost 10pm.”

“Can I just remind everyone that I am still part spider and if I don't need a whole ten hours,” Peter lied, not wanting to get a bedtime, “I can run perfectly fine off like two.”

“You slept almost twelve hours at the hotel.” Damian stated, crossing his arms. 

“I was… sick?” Peter tried.

“You’re still sick kid,” Jason said, pushing Peter towards Damian, “Give him a tour of the place or something, I really gotta go.”

Peter pursed his lips as he watched Jason walk further down the hall before disappearing from view. 

“Do you want a tour?” Damian asks hesitantly. 

“Yeah, sure.” Peter gives Damian a smile, he still felt bad about leaving Damian the way he did. In fact, he was beginning to get attached to the teen before the whole Superman fiasco, “Probably the best time considering everyone else is either asleep or out.”

“I’m sorry for how I handled things in New York” Damian says, leading Peter through the quiet hallways, “It wasn’t meant to go that way.”

“How was it supposed to go?”

“I was going to invite you here,” Damian says, “I was going to gain your trust first before offering to return with you to the manor.”

“Gain my trust?” Peter asked, looking at the portraits and expensive vase’s they walked past, “How?”

“Food and positive reinforcement.”

Peter couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know what? That would probably have worked if the rest of your family wasn’t so crazy.” Peter remarked as he continued on through the tour.

“They’re incompetent.” Damian huffs, “Father’s usually a lot more adept in handling sensitive individuals like yourself but his vision was clouded especially after the blood tests.  Mine was not.”

“Yeah, I mean I sort of get that,” Peter said, “I don’t trust those blood tests but I can see why they could get clouded vision. Still not gonna forgive them any time soon.”

“What about me?” Damian hesitates, “Do you forgive me?”

“Yeah, I mean I’m still sorta upset about ratting me out to your dad but,” Peter shrugged, “I liked showing you around New York.  It was fun.”

“I’m glad.”

Jason and the rest of the group had been out all night.  They had gotten a lead on a meta fighting ring near the harbour that matched up with a few missing children posters in the area.  Usually one or two of them were enough for a simple fighting ring, but when meta’s were involved, they had learned their lesson on being safe rather than sorry.  Returning to the cave around 2am, Dick, Tim, and Bruce made quick work of removing their gear, throwing masks onto desks and heading into changing rooms.  Cass and Steph were still scheduled for patrol until 3 and wouldn't be back for another hour or so.  Jason, not wanting to stick around for longer than necessary, tucked his hemet under his arm and made his way towards the stairs leading out. He was not going to do paperwork like B insisted after every mission.  He had helped out, and now he was going to bed. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep in till noon like usual, not with Peter around.

Peter was unlucky. He just had to be biologically related to Bruce, if he wasn’t Jason would have picked up the kid and ran ages ago.  Now with Bruce having legal custody it was going to be harder, he didn’t even know where he was going to keep him, Peter didn’t deserve to live in Crime Alley in his shitty apartment.  Even so, Jason viewed it as the lesser of two evils.  He didn’t trust Bruce enough not to turn Peter into another one of his child soldiers.  Bruce wasn’t good at keeping promises.  He promised to keep Jason safe when he was a kid and look where that got him. He never really forgave Bruce after what happened all those years ago, the twinges of green still clouding his vision at times at the idea that Bruce valued the life of the Joker over his own.  He knew that wasn’t really the case, not really. Bruce was so obsessed over the whole ‘not killing rule’, that he couldn’t even ignore it when Jason died.

Jason himself had reluctantly taken up the ‘no killing rule’ himself after his mini killing spree when he first came back, two years ago he had switched most of his bullets for rubber ones, but he always had a real bullet loaded into one of his pistols.  Just in case.  Not everyone deserved to live, it was something Jason and the rest of the family still disagreed on, but in the past two years, he had yet to meet someone who deserved to die.  The bullets weighed heavily in his gun, waiting.

“Jay!” Dick called out to him, “Oracle sent over some possible matches for that Tony Stark guy. You wanna check if anything matches up.”

“Already?” Jason asked, making his way back down and placing his helmet by the computer. 

“Look, between the talk about wizards and time travel, he was pretty insistent on this Tony Stark guy.” Dick explained. 

Bruce was sitting on the main screen with the files Oracle sent them pulled up.  Tim, having finished changing, rolled his eyes as he passed the three.

“I still think you’re wasting your time with that,” Tim said, heading for the stairs, “You’re just feeding into his delusions, that psychologist is gonna agree with me tomorrow.  Kids get imaginary friends all the time, it’s probably some kind of trauma response.”

“You got him a psychologist?” Jason asked, “He’s not gonna like that.”

“She specialises in childhood trauma,” Bruce said, “False memories are common. Tim already did a background check on her and she’s got glowing reviews.”

“The best money can buy huh B?” Jason asks, nudging Bruce over so he could get a better view. “O, you hear me?”

“Unfortunately,” Barbara snarked through the computer speaker, “I got nothing for Tony Stark or Stark Industries anywhere in the system but I have a few people that match up to the description you gave me.”

“Anyone associated with human trafficking or LexCorp?” Bruce asks.

“A Filipino man called Anthony Soriano worked in the lab that Peter visited but he doesn’t really meet the description of ‘basic white guy’, he was also out sick that day.” Barbara explained.  “No-one I found called Anthony match.”

“So you just called in to let us know we got nothing?” Jason asks unamused, standing back up and grabbing his helmet.

“No. I said no-one called Anthony match.” Oracle said, “But we do have a John Doe that might.  Found earlier the same day Peter showed up in Gotham.”

“John Doe?” Dick asks, “You can’t identify him?”

“Not yet.” Oracle said, “He’s in the coma ward of Gotham General Hospital, physical trauma and burns indicating he was involved in an explosion of some kind.  Stable but unconscious.”

“He matches the description I gave ya?” Jason asked, as the hospital files were pulled up along with an image of the man.

“Basic white guy around forty with a weird beard. Apart from the age, it matches.” Oracle said. “Hospital reckon he’s in his early to mid thirties. Considering he’s a John Doe, they can’t confirm it.”

“I think that’s him, weird beard and all.” Jason said, staring closely at the image. “Maybe we should confirm it with Peter?”

“No, Peter’s done with whatever this is,” Dick said “He’s seeing a child-psychologist in the morning, and he’s going to get better.  Shoving a picture of the guy we think abused him in his face isn’t going to give him the peace of mind to heal.”

“I hate agreeing with you.” Jason said, “You have a point though, we might actually have a solid lead, the kid has been through enough. I’m sure O can figure out more about John Doe without Peter’s help. Ain’t that right?”

“Absolutely.” Barbara said.

“You hear that B? No need to interrogate Peter.” Jason said.

“We have a lead, and Peter’s an unreliable witness.” Bruce said standing up, “Dick’s right, the only job Peter has is to get better.”