kismet

Red Hood was stalking him. He wasn’t sure why exactly the crime lord seemed to be following him around. Though, the man did seem to at least try to be stealthy, did his best to remain unseen.

Peter never saw the man following him, exactly, but even if he was in a different universe, he was still Spider-Man. Perks and all. It was lucky for him that he had an eerily accurate supernatural sense for danger and hearing that went at least three miles out. So, yeah, he knew the Red Hood was following him, Peter just wasn’t sure what he’d done to attract the man’s attention. He was just another homeless kid in Crime Alley, nothing to see here.

It had been a week and a half since Peter had started being Spider-Man again and in that time he’d run into Hood quite a lot. But as Peter. The crime lord seemed to have taken a liking to him, hanging around and bringing him food. Letting him talk when he wanted to and filling the silence when Peter couldn’t bring himself to speak. Hood was kind to him and Peter had begun to consider the man a friend, if a bit warily.

But this was the first time he’d encountered Hood while he was doing his whole Spider-Man and the amount of danger radiating off of the man was a bit terrifying and a lot intimidating.

He had just stumbled into a warehouse full of ninjas and decided to fight them because why not. Red Hood quickly joined the fray, the sound of gunshots deafening to Peter’s ears.

Once all the ninjas were knocked out, Hood turned to Peter, still breathing heavily and holding his left side.

Peter was bouncing up and down on his feet, adrenaline pumping through his whole body. His breaths were smooth and even, his limbs buzzing.

“Who are you?” Hood growled menacingly.

“Woah, man! Are you okay?” Peter blurted, eyes darting to where he was pressing his hand.

“I said who are you?” He growled again and woah he could make his voice really deep.

“Listen Mr. Crime Lord who I’ve totally never met before.” He began rambling stupidly. God, why couldn’t he ever shut up. “You look really hurt! But yeah, I’m Spider-Man! You might have heard about me, you know, swinging around, fighting crime. Ya know.”

Hood paused, looking him up and down. “Peter?” He yelled incredulously.

Peter made a show of looking behind him. “Uh, no? Spider-Man. I just said that. Peter? Who’s that? I don’t know a Peter.”

“Peter.” Hood repeated, huffing. He reached up, pulling off his helmet and giving Peter an unimpressed glare.

“Peter? I hardly know her.” Peter babbled, wringing his hands.

“Oh my god.” Hood mumbled under his breath, pinching his nose. He looked back up at Peter with a small smirk. “Alright then, Spider-Man. What are you doing in my territory?” Hood asked drolly.

“Oh you know, like I said. Fighting crime.” Peter said nervously, eyes darting to and away from the other man.

“Uh huh.” Hood said, smirking. “And why exactly are you doing that?”

“Uh… well…” Peter stuttered a bit. “I- with great power comes great responsibility. My- someone really important to me told me that. So when I got my powers… well, you know.”

“Uh huh.” Hood said again, looking at him a bit more seriously. He tilted his head, looking Peter up and down. “Nice suit, where’d you get it?”

“Oh!” Peter said, patting his chest. “Thanks. I made it.”

Hood paused. “You made it?” He echoed dubiously.

“Yup!” Peter hummed, unseen was the proud smile on his face.

“Hm. Well, Spider-Man.” He said, emphasizing the name. “If you ever need any help just call me.” He pulled out a small card with a phone number written on it.

Peter took the card warily, spinning it in his fingers. He looked back up at Hood who was walking out of the warehouse.

“Thank you.” Peter called out.

Hood stopped and turned back for a moment. “Please, try to stay out of trouble.” Was all he said. Peter nodded hurriedly, watching as the man left.

Peter sighed, looking around at the almost thirty unconscious or dead ninjas. “Karen.” He hummed. “Call the police.”

“On it, Boss.” Karen chirped back.

Peter sighed again, moving to leave as fast as possible. His head turned sharply at the sound of a scream and he shoots his arm out to eject a web and swing closer. His work never ends.

He’d been in Gotham for almost four months so far and he’d been scraping by, day by day. The city he’d ended up in… it was horrible so say the least. Dark and dreary and full of people who set off his senses and made him want shrivel up and hide. But god did it suck him in, make him love it.

When he’d arrived he’d been angry, angry at himself, angry for his duties as Spider-Man, angry at Matt for getting him into that fight with Fisk, angry at Fate. But especially angry at the situation he’d found himself dumped into, headfirst.

Unfortunately for him, the strange entity had neglected to mention that a side effect of his new spell was that it ended with Peter stuck in a universe that wasn’t his own. So yeah, he’d been pretty… upset.

The fact that he’d woken up drowning in a tube of bubbling green liquid, and had to break himself out with his bare hands, was just another thing to add to his list of traumatic experiences. He had plenty, that was for sure. The waking up part didn’t even hit his top ten. Now, realizing he was in an alien universe, that was a little higher up.

The green was… weird. It made his brain fuzzy and enhanced all of his emotions. He was pretty sure it had also enhanced his spider dna since he’d noticed even more spidery qualities popping up lately. Not to mention that all of his senses and his strength had gotten better, by like a lot. Regardless, he tried not the think about the green as much as he could, pushing it far back in his mind.

But anyway, the point was, a lot had changed in the last few months. Sure, for the first few weeks, he was so wrapped up in his rage that he could barely see but it’d gotten… easier over the months to see past the sickly green tint of his fury. Eventually, he’d needed sort through all of his tangled emotions if he wanted to survive in this place.

But now things were slowly but surely getting better, he had a job and an apartment and possibly a boyfriend.

Tim and Peter had gone on a bunch dates in the couple of weeks that went by after Spider-Man’s meeting with Red Hood. Peter really really liked the Tim, so much. So much that he felt more and more guilty about not telling the truth about himself. But he couldn’t, it was outrageous and crazy and most importantly dangerous. Nobody could know.

His only consolation was that Tim was keeping almost as big of a secret from him. Almost.

Spider-Man had also met Red Robin and that was… weird. It was totally weird but at least Peter hadn’t said anything to give away his identity like he had done so stupidly with Hood.

The rest of the Bats were rather hostile towards Spider-Man, Red Robin less so than the others but still obviously wary. Peter tried not to let it hurt.

Classes had been going well, too, and he’d even made a few friends. Granted, those few friends were new and edgier versions of Gwen and MJ who were both in some of his classes at Gotham U. That had been weird, seeing the two of them being friends. Well, more than friends considering there had been a fair share of handholding and kissing that he’d witnessed. They were different, not the same people he knew back in his own universe but they were nice and he was enjoying getting to know them.

He’d also been reintroduced to Cass and Steph, this time as Tim’s boyfriend instead of the local bartender a few days prior. It had been a fun night spent at Harley’s when Peter wasn’t on the clock, full of drinks and dancing and laughter.

By the end of the evening, Peter had stumbled home with a bright grin on his face, but not before Tim grabbed him by the waist to pull him into an achingly soft kiss. Their first, but Peter’s tipsy mind didn’t realize that until he’d been stripping off his clothes and falling into bed.

He was pretty sure they suspected he might be a meta given how much he’d had to drink just to get buzzed but couldn’t find it in himself to care.

He was also pretty sure that he’d been acting more spidery throughout the night than he’d been allowing himself to be in front of Tim before. He usually had pretty good control of his more baser instincts but with alcohol in his system he’d been a little more lax in his presence.

Tim didn’t seem to mind though, or notice really given the handsy way he’d been acting throughout the night. Peter had loved it though. He’d always been a physically affectionate person and his love language was definitely physical touch but it’d been sorely lacking over the last few years.

In the years before May’s death nobody that knew Peter would deny that he was a touchy person; hugs, holding hands, arms thrown over shoulders. He loved it all and the people he was around seemed to reciprocate happily.

But after May’s death and the rest of the world’s sudden case of amnesia, he hadn’t really had anyone to do those things with. Or, he’d had them but he hadn’t felt comfortable enough to let himself indulge in that. Wade had been touchy but most of the time Peter had only felt annoyance at the man’s hands all over him even if he’d privately savored the feeling of someone else’s hands on him.

He’d held himself so rigidly after the spell, so afraid of letting anyone close. Pushing the people that tried away until they gave up and settled for the little of himself he would give to them. None of them had known his real name or anything about him really. Gwen and Harry had only gotten pieces of him, too scared to get them caught up in his life. Too scared of them dying because of him.

He was determined not to make the same mistakes in this world and so he’d went against all his instincts and let people close. The entity who had sent him here was right, he wasn’t alone for very long. Now he had Harley, Pam, Selina, Cass, Steph, and Tim. It made him feel warm and tingly inside. None of them were normal or had normal lives, they could take care of themselves if someone came after them. If someone came after them because of him.

Tonight was the first night that Tim was coming over to Peter’s apartment and he had spent the whole morning stress cleaning and baking. Baking that went straight in the trash given he’d inherited May’s skills in the kitchen. He’d also had to light a candle to clear out the burnt smell invading his whole apartment.

He jumped out of his skin when a knock sounded at his door and he rushed to open it.

“Hey.” He said, a bit breathlessly as he took in the man at his doorstep. He was dressed comfortably, sweatpants and an old Nightwing T-shirt but Peter thought he’d never looked better. His hair was windswept and his pale face was flushed red from the cold, Peter wanted to press kisses against the freckles dotting his face.

He quickly ushered Tim inside, blushing as the man took in his sparse living room. There was an old couch that he’d put a cover on and a tv sitting on the only other piece of furniture he’d bought.

“Hi.” Tim said back, taking off his coat. He gave Peter a bright smile and Peter couldn’t help but lean in and press a kiss to his lips.

He leaned back just as fast, eyes wide, shocked at his own actions.

Tim’s eyes were just as wide before he smiled again, wrapping his arms around Peter’s waist and nibbling at his lip. He couldn’t hold in his groan if he tried.

“How was your night?” Peter mumbled a bit shyly, leading them to the couch.

“Good.” Tim said, smirking. “Bit boring without you though. You?”

Peter smiled back, inwardly snickering. He’d been out at Spider-Man the night before when he’d run into Red Robin during a bank robbery and they’d ended up teaming up.

It was nice, working with people again. He’d found himself teaming up with the group more and more as time passed, only avoiding the Bat at all costs. What could he say, the man was intimidating. Whether it be as Bruce or as Batman.

“Same.” Peter answered after a pause. “I missed you.”

Tim grinned, snuggling into Peter’s side. “I missed you too.” He said before rolling his eyes. “Even though I saw you three days ago. Cass wants your number by the way.”

“You can give it to her.” Peter replied warmly. “Steph too if she wants.”

Tim groaned. “Oh she wants. I wasn’t going to say anything though.”

Peter huffed in amusement. “Why not?” He asked.

“Because!” Tim pouted. “If she starts bothering you I’ll never get you to myself.”

Peter grinned down at him. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll always make time for you.”

Tim groaned again, pressing his forehead to Peter’s shoulder. “You don’t understand! She’s relentless.”

“I’m familiar.” Peter drawled, struggling to withhold a giggle. “I’m also quite relentless myself, if you believe it.”

“Oh I believe it.” Tim mumbled before looking up at Peter with puppy eyes. “Can we watch a movie?”

Peter smiled, kissing his forehead. “Of course. What are you feeling?”

“You can pick.” Tim whispered, leaning further into Peter’s side as he started streaming Star Wars to the TV.

As the theme song began, Tim let out a short laugh, muttering under his breath. “Of course.”

Peter smiled against Tim’s hair, turning his attention to the screen.

Long after the movie was over, Tim and Peter stayed curled up together on the couch. Chattering conversations turned whispered confessions and before he knew it, an abridged version of his tragic backstory was falling from his lips.

“- and I just let him pass by and I didn’t know my Uncle had followed me. Later when we were walking back home, the same guy tried to mug us and he- he shot my uncle. He died in my arms. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

“Peter.” Tim said, placing his hands on Peter’s cheeks. “What happened wasn’t your fault. He wouldn’t want you to punish yourself over it.”

Peter huffed a teary laugh. “You sound just like May.” He sighed, going quiet for a pause. “I know that. It was a long time ago, anyway.”

“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt.” Tim mumbled against his chest. “My-“ He cut off, taking a deep breath. “My parents didn’t really care about me. They mostly ignored me when they weren’t leaving me home alone for months at a time. I- Bruce noticed after a while and eventually took me in. I’m- I’ll never make it up to him.” He blurted, looking shocked at himself.

“Tim.” Peter breathed. “You don’t have to make it up to him. He’s your dad, right? It’s his job to take care of you now.”

“Adopted dad.” Tim corrected.

“Still your dad.” Peter insisted, looking down at Tim with a small frown. “I’m sorry about your parents, love.”

“Eh.” Tim waved him off. “They’re dead now.”

“Ah.” Peter hummed, unsure of how to respond to that statement.

“Anyway.” Tim huffed, sitting up. “I should probably go, it’s getting late.”

“Yeah.” Peter breathed, fighting the urge to beg him to stay. “I’m pretty tired, anyway.” A lie.

“I’ll see you soon?” Tim asked bashfully.

“Soon.” Peter promised, holding onto the doorframe. “Text me when you get home safe.”

“Will do.” Tim smiled. “Oh, by the way, Bruce wants to meet you. Okay bye!” And then he was gone.

Peter sighed as he banged his head against the door. Well, time to go throw himself off buildings and into oncoming danger to distract himself from that.

“Spidey!” Spoiler called out brightly, waving a hand.

“Spoiler. Red Robin.” He greeted, giving a wave of his own. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve been chasing down this trafficking ring and we tracked them to this warehouse about three blocked away.” Red Robin answered neutrally.

“Wanna help?” Spoiler chirped, earning a sharp look from RR.

“Sure! Sounds like a blast!” Peter replied happily, ignoring the pinch in his gut at the exchange. Tilting his head, he zoned in on the sounds in the warehouse. “Sounds like there are about ten guards and twenty people on the basement level. From the sounds of it, they’re prisoners.”

“How do you know that?” Red asked suspiciously, glaring through his lenses.

Peter shrugged. “I can hear them.” He answered simply.

“You can hear that far?!” Spoiler asked excitedly.

“I can hear about three miles out.” Peter volunteered, smirking.

“Wow.” Spoiler breathed.

“Let’s go.” Red said sharply, turning on his feet and launching himself off the building. The sound of a grappling hook firing was the only thing keeping Peter from leaping after him.

“Drama queen.” Spoiler muttered before doing the same. Peter sighed, he supposed he should probably follow them. “Karen can you get into their com link?”

“Yes, Boss.” Karen answered, before the sounds of Spoiler and Red Robin arguing hit his ears.

“-would you invite him to come with us?!”

“Uh, because he can help?”

“But-“

“Uh.” Peter cut in, a nervous laugh ringing through the comm. “Hi guys.”

“How did you-“

“Hi Spidey!” Spoiler chirped.

“Hi.” Peter answered distractedly. “So how are we doing this?”

“I’ll go in the back. You and Spoiler go in the front and distract the guards while I go for the hostages.” Red Robin answered promptly.

“On it.” Peter said. “Karen give me a route.” He ordered, swinging to a stop next to Spoiler.

“On it, Boss!” Karen beeped affirmatively.

“Who was that?!” Spoiler asked, head jerking towards Peter.

“Oh!” Peter hummed, deciding to tell the truth. “That’s my AI, Karen. Say hi Karen.”

“Hello Spoiler. Hello Red Robin.” Karen greeted warmly. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh my god! That’s so cool!” Spoiler squealed. “Hi Karen, you sexy thing.”

“Yes, hey Karen. Can we do this or what?” Red Robin cut in sharply.

Peter stifled a sigh and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.” He breathed, ignoring the pang of hurt at his boyfriend’s curt manner.

The next ten minutes were a haze of flying fists and Peter breathed a sigh of relief the moment all of the guards had been incapacitated. He hadn’t escaped unscathed, a wound in his side bleeding against the webs he had placed there.

“Good work team!” Spoiler said, out of breath.

“Thanks for the help, Spider-Man.” Red Robin said in clear dismissal.

Peter took his leave. “See you guys.” He said, disconnecting from the comm link and swinging away without another word.

He had the irritating sensation of mental whiplash, going from such a nice night in with his boyfriend to that. He knew he shouldn’t take it to heart, it wasn’t like Tim knew it was him after all. It still stung. He ignored it.