A Different Perspective
Dick was with the others in the Batcave. They decided to have a training day. It was going pretty good too. No one was getting seriously maimed, and no one was trying to stab the other (looking at Damian). They were all working pretty well together today. It was a rare day of getting along.
Cass and Steph were sparing. Cass was trying to teach Steph a new move she learned. Steph was also trying to perform a new move she saw on YouTube a few days ago.
Damian had practiced throwing Batarangs at targets. Damian claimed he was skilled enough in this aspect already, but said it didn’t hurt to refresh his skills.
Jason and Duke decided to spar as well. Duke wasn’t able to beat Jason in a fight, or a spar. That was probably why he was so insistent that he kept sparing with Jason. Duke never seemed to get the advantage, even using photokinesis.
Dick decided to practice his gymnastics. Brushing up on his old moves, and trying to see if he can make new ones. He was mostly trying to perfect the Mukhina Flip. It's a high risk move that he never got to try out. Bruce only agreed to let him practice it if he monitored it.
Which was what Bruce was currently doing. Along with Damian watching by Bruce's side. Dick didn’t really like being watched over, but he understood the concern.
Overall it was going pretty good…
That was until Tim came bursting in, shouting. He was speaking fast enough where no one could understand what he was saying.
“Tim, calm down! We don’t have any idea what you're saying.” Dick walked up to Tim, calling out to him to try and get him to breathe.
“Drake, stop this nonsensical babbling and speak clearly.” Damian scowled toward Tim, annoyed with his yelling.
“C’mon Dami, you know Tims always like this when he finds a new interest.” Stephanie chimed in, walking over to watch Tim rant. Cass walked over too, lightly chuckling as she watched Tims arms wave in the air.
“Tim, dude! Can you even hear me!” Duke tried shouting at Tim, but he wasn't paying attention. He was too busy pacing around the room, mumbling under his breath, to notice. “This might take awhile.” Tims mumbling got faster, his hands waving in the air again.
Bruce eventually walked over to Tim and put his hand on his shoulder. He got Tim to stop talking for a moment. “Tim, breathe. We can't understand what you’re saying.” Tim, with his hands still in the air, took a few deep breaths.
“Are you calm now Tim?” Bruce took his hand off Tims shoulder. He waited for Tim to fully catch his breath and answer. But Tim wasn’t calm, no, not even close. His mind was running a mile a minute. Trying to make sense of what he had seen just a few hours ago.
Was there even anything to make sense of? Was it a big deal?
I wonder what got Tim so excited?
Stephanie is right. Dick has only ever seen Tim this passionate when he’s faced with a hard case. Or with something he can figure out (unknown people or knowledge).
Tim took a deep breath before shouting. “Dick has a clone!” His voice echoed in the cave. The silence met with his statement was loud.
Everyone froze…
A clone?
“Tim, what are you talking about?” Dick asked warily, his voice just barely shaking. “Well, I think he’s a clone. I'm not too sure about that. Can't really be too sure without enough evidence. But I saw him! He was walking down the Diamond District about an hour ago.” Tim said quickly. His words left Dick reeling.
A clone? He had a clone? Who made him? Why was he in Gotham? Was he - Dick was snapped out of his thoughts as Bruce spoke. “You said he was in the Diamond District?”
“Yeah?” Tim looked at Bruce confused. “How was his appearance? Did he look lost or confused?” Tim nodded his head. “There's a chance he went to the library. Call Barbara.” Dick grabbed his phone and called Barbara, putting it on speaker.
“Hello.”
“Hey Babs -”
“Did you see Dicks clone at the library!?” Tim shouted over Dick. “His clone? Oh! You mean Peter! Yeah, he left just a few minutes ago.”
His name is Peter. Did the person who made him give him that name? Dick was getting more stressed about this by the second. “Babs, do you have any information on him?” Dick asked, pushing Tim away from the phone.
He really needed to talk to Barbara. “Yeah I do. He filled out a sheet for a library card. Let me send you a picture.” Barbara sent Dick a picture of Peter's information. Disk uploaded the picture to the batcomputer.
Bruce sat down and pulled up the picture. Peter Parker… It was the first thing that Dick saw on the paper. There wasn’t much else on there besides his age. “Hmm…”Bruce analyzed the paper, “He’s 18?”
“No he isn’t. I’m pretty sure he lied about his age for the card. But he’s easily 14 at best.”
He has a child clone running around, alone, in Gotham. Dick was being totally normal about this.
Jason took the phone from Dick. Dick hardly noticed. He was too busy staring down the bat computer screen. “What did he do while he was there Barbara?”
“He just sat on the computer the whole time. I tried looking through his search history, but it was wiped clean.” Bruce frowned at this while Tim looked insanely interested. “He hacked the computer?"
“Mhm. He looked a bit panicked at what he was seeing though.”
“How badly did he panic?”
“Pretty bad, especially considering it lasted about ten minutes. I gave him some food and water. He used the shower and got some clothes from the lost and found. Then he left.” Bruce began typing on the computer. He was creating a file for Peter. All they had was his name and age. Dick hoped they would get more information soon.
“Do you have a security video of his face?”
“I’ll send it to you. I tried to run facial recognition, but I got nothing.” Two minutes later the bats were watching the library security footage of Peter. They watched him open the door and approach the desk. When Barbara went back to get his card the bats noticed him start to lean heavily on the desk.
“Is he okay?” Dick was incredibly concerned about this kid. He couldn’t see any injuries because of the grainy footage. “He was pretty injured when he came in here. I decided it was best not to draw attention to it. He might have run off.”
“I’ll add this to his file. We’ll look into this as it happens.” Bruce finished his file and stood up. He turned and addressed the bats in the room, and the one on the phone. “Investigate carefully, we don’t know anything about him. Be careful not to harass him if you see him. Question him carefully and be cautious.”
The bats nodded. Though Dick felt off about this. There was no guarantee that Peter was his clone. He could just be a kid who happens to look a bit like him, doppelgängers exist.
But Tim was so sure that Peter could be a clone. So Dick felt obligated to investigate this. He just hoped the situation wasn’t as bad as he was thinking, or worse.
_______________
“I got it.” They all turned as Jason walked into the cave with a small hair in his hands. Tim jumped up and ran over to Jason, taking the hair from his hands. “Oi! Calm down!”
“You know I can’t.” Tim sat down and quickly got the work analyzing the hair.
Dick sighed, running his hand through his hair. “He’s been jittery for a few hours. He really wanted to get a sample of Peter’s DNA.” He chuckled. Jason rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Hopefully he isn’t right about his clone theory. That shit can get pretty annoying.”
“No need to be all angsty Jay. We could have a new sibling in our hands.” Steph laughed, “Bruce could be getting a new kid.” Jason groaned loudly. He dragged his hands down his face. “Gods, B does not need another damn kid. He doesn’t need another damn Robin running around.”
Damian scoffed. “Like I would let anyone steal my title Todd. Peter will not be getting it so easily.” He glared at Jason, hands on his hips.
“New sibling? New Robin?” Cass asked. She and Duke were currently playing Uno on the floor. “What Cass said.” Duke replied, putting down a +2. “It could be your chance to change your name and costume like everyone did Damian. Get a new sense of style and pass down the Robin mantle.”
Cass placed down another +2, Duke groaned and drew four. “I hate this game.”
Damian glared and rolled his eyes. “He can try, but he will not succeed.” Damian huffed, crossing his arms.
Jason shakes his head. “I honestly don’t think this is necessary. It’s pretty obvious he has some relation to Dick at least. We don’t need a DNA test to prove that.”
That made Dick a bit confused. What made Jason so sure that he and Peter had any relation? “Why do you say that?”
Jason stares him down. His glare obvious even through the helmet he’s wearing. “I’m sure O has some footage through my com, or my body cam. But shit, that kid had my ears bleeding with how much he could talk.”
Dick heard Steph stifle a laugh at what Jason said. “Well then he’s obviously related to you in some way, clone or otherwise.”
Otherwise…Related to me but not a clone…Wait-!
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?” Steph and Jason turned towards him. Blank stares directed towards him.
“I-I don’t talk that much!”
Steph and Jason shot a glance at each other, still not speaking.
“Wow. So rude.”
During everyone’s conversation, Tim was quiet. Very quiet. Dick noticed Tims state and called out to him. “Hey Tim, you got anything?” Tim was quiet. “Tim?” Steph called out. Tim was quiet.
The others were getting worried about his silence. Jason walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey Tim? Are you ok-“ Jason’s voice got quiet as he looked at the screen Tim was staring down.
“Jason, Tim? What’s going on?” Dick was getting pretty worried about his brothers. What did he find? Why did it shock him so badly? Was he actually a clone? Was it something worse? What was going on?
“Well..” Tim’s voice cut through the silence of the cave. His voice was shaky and quiet. He cleared his throat, trying to find his words. “Turns out I was wrong about the clone thing.” He laughed shakily.
“What is it then?” Duke asked. “Oh, um- just-“ Jason cut off Tim's stuttering.
“Dick has a son.”
“WHAT?!”
Stephanie’s yell echoed loudly through the cave. Dick was silent. His thoughts were running wild.
(A kid. A KID. He has a kid. A son? How, how does he have a son? A son? How HoW hOw HOw hoW-)
Dick was spiraling. His breathing sped up. He clutched his chest, digging his nails into his skin.
A son? Who, who did I? How didn’t I know?! Who was?… hers? Was he hers? Was she , did she .., why. WhywhywhywhywhywhywhyWhY-
“DICK, Dick, snap out of it. Can you hear me?”
Dick couldn’t hear anything. It felt like he was drowning. His ears were ringing and he couldn't breathe properly. His vision was blurring. He felt like throwing up, but he couldn’t even gag.
“Dick-!”
He felt hands on his shoulders. He wanted to push them away, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t do anything. He was weak, he was vulnerable . He couldn’t, couldn’t-!
Everything went black.
__________________
Dick opened his eyes. He felt heavy and exhausted. He looked around and noticed he was in the bat caves clinic. He was placed in the bed. Dick stared at the ceiling, unable to focus on anything else. The air felt stale and cold.
He took a deep breath and held it. He took another one and held it, and held it, and held it…He breathed out when he started feeling lightheaded. The burn in his lungs helped wake him up. He ran his hands through the sheets on the bed.
Dick felt himself relaxing from the cold from the sheets his hands touched. He laid his arms above his head and stretched. A few of his joints popped and he sighed.
That sucked.
Okay. It was horrible. It was the worst possible outcome for that whole situation. It couldn’t be helped though. Dick heard the word son. Son .
The only possible way for him to have a son right now would be from her. Wasn’t that a nauseating thought. Dick stared at the ceiling, letting his mind wander. How old was Peter? When was he born? Why was he here? Where was she at? Dick squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to think.
She was still in jail right? Did she break out? Bruce would have said something if she did though…
He didn’t want to think at all. He wanted to shut his mind off and fall back asleep.
He clenched his fists and braced them against the mattress.
He sat up, taking a second to steady himself. He turned, letting his legs hang off the side of the bed. He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands on his chest.
His shirt was off and his chest was wrapped in bandages. What?
The wounds stung. He winced and went to claw at the bandages, but stopped himself. He didn’t want to have to wear them any longer than he already needed to.
He heard someone open the curtain and looked to see Bruce. “Hey chum. How are you feeling?” Bruce sat next to Dick on the bed. He placed his hand on Dicks back.
Dick looked at Bruce and sighed. “I’m…okay.” Dicks voice was soft and slightly scratchy. He grazed his hands over the bandages. Bruce noticed and grabbed his hand. He placed Dicks hand on his lap and held it.
“Don’t touch those right now chum. You tore the skin really badly.” Dick just nodded softly and leaned on Bruce’s shoulder. Bruce leaned on Dicks head. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Dick heard footsteps approach.
“Hey.” Jason spoke softly at the curtain. Damian came in behind him. “Richard.” Damian’s voice was soft despite his hard expression. Dick smiled.
Steph, Cass, Tim and Duke approached, along with Alfred. “Master Richard. I hope you are feeling okay now?” Dick took a deep breath and nodded.
Tim looked guilty. Looking at Dick like he was to blame for what just happened. Dick held out his arm and waved him over. Tim carefully walked over and hugged Dick. “Sorry. I didn’t know that was going to cause you so much panic.”
Dick shook his head. “It’s okay Tim it isn’t your fault.” Tim pulled away, looking distressed. “But I-“
“It ain’t your damn fault Tim. Especially if Dick says it isn’t.”
Steph nodded. “Yeah, it isn’t your fault Tim. None of us knew that would’ve happened.”
“Don’t beat yourself up man.” Duke walked over and placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s okay.”
Cass walked over and ruffled Tim’s hair. “Hey!” Tim swatted her hand away. She chuckled. “Not your fault. Not to blame.” Cass signed.
Dick pulled Time back into the hug. “It’s okay Timmy. I’m okay.”
Dick raised his hand up and ruffled Tim’s hair. “Seriously!” Tim scowled. Dick let out a breathy laugh. “Careful with your bandages Master Richard.” Alfred walked over to check on them. Dick looked around at his family and smiled. He was okay, he was safe. With them here he knew he was.
Now it was time to make sure the new addition to the family was safe too…
________________
The meeting in the cave was silent as Tim gathered all the data collected. No one spoke up and no one was willing to be the first to. The air was tense and uncomfortable. It left a bad taste in Dicks mouth. He looked around at everyone noticing how they were either staring at Tim, or had their eyes down.
He didn't like how silent it was. He wasn’t fond of silence, nor the silence from his family. He wanted to talk, he needed to. He had all kinds of questions, but no one had answers. Only Tim had a good chance of that right now.
Dick turned his gaze to Tim. He watched as he sorted through the data on the bat computer. Dick felt his muscles tense more with each passing second. He needed to talk, he needed someone else to talk. He needed to hear a voice that wasn’t the one in his head.
Bruce stood up from the table and walked over to Tim. He leaned down and started whispering to him. They had a quiet conversation before Bruce turned back to the table and sat back down.
Tim turned back towards the rest of the bats, clearing his throat to get their attention. The bats snapped their attention to Tim and sat up straight. “I’ve compiled all the information we have on Peter in a file. If you have any more information just put it in there.”
Dick sat up straighter and took a deep breath. “So, what all do you have?”
“His name, an assumption of his age, and the results of the DNA test…” Tims words trailed off as he grew quiet. Dick sighed. He really hoped Tim and the others wouldn’t act like this. He was okay, he wasn’t going to panic and break down at the mention of Peter. He wasn’t going to panic at the results of the DNA test.
Dick didn’t want to be treated like he was fragile. He didn’t want to be treated like he couldn’t handle what was found. He wasn’t fragile . He didn’t want Tim to think that at all.
“What did you find?” Tim looked at Dick apprehensively. Frustration pooled in his gut. He stared Tim down silently. Tim let out a breath while looking back down at the results. “The DNA match to you was a 99% percent match on the paternity test.”
Dicks chest squeezed uncomfortably. The small conformation of what he already knew hit him suddenly. He didn’t doubt Peter was related to him. He didn’t doubt that Peter was his son. But the conformation made this all too real.
“What else did you find?” Stephanie's timid voice broke through his thoughts. “The mother is a woman by the name of Mary Fitzpatrick. She is twenty three years old. She lives in New York, and works as a geneticist.”
Mary Fitzpatrick…Mary…
Hearing that name was a relief. Although he did not know who this woman was, he was happy to not hear another name. Though the tightness in his chest didn’t go away. It seemed to only get worse. He didn’t know this woman. How did he have a kid with her?
“Do you know this woman Dick?” Bruce seemed tense. His voice was strained and wasn’t looking Dick in the eye. “No I don’t.” Bruce stiffly nodded.
“That doesn’t make any sense though. Dick would have been twelve when Peter was born.” Duke didn’t look any better than Bruce. No one did. They all seemed to some to that conclusion.
“That's what the results say, Duke. I’ve redone them, like, three times.” Tim sounded tired. He didn’t want to deliver the news in the first place, much less be questioned on his results. “Take more hair?” Cass asked. It wasn’t a bad idea, but it could be tricky to try and get another one.
“That doesn’t seem necessary. We already have our results. Drake has checked over to confirm the information. Why waste time planning to get another one. Shouldn’t we figure out how Richard has a thirteen year old son with a woman he doesn’t know?”
Damian's words made the bats pause. He was right after all.
She couldn't be the mother, he wasn’t twelve-
“Maybe he’s from the future or something.” Jason leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head.
The future?
“What makes you say that Jay?” Dick looked at Jason confused. Jason sighed and leaned forward. “Well, think about it. Kid pops up out of nowhere. He has no records or anything of himself. No proof he exists. I know Tim was up all night searching for him too.”
Dick could faintly hear Tim mumble something under his breath. “Also he knew Tim was watching him. He knew I was watching him. He seems to be trained, if only a little bit. He’s thirteen, and he’s the son of you and a woman you don’t know. Maybe a woman you don’t know yet.”
That...made sense.
“Also, the first thing he said when he heard your name was that ‘Nightwing sounded cool.’ Don’t know if that's too relevant, but I'd say it is.”
Cool…Peter thinks he's cool. His son thinks he's cool.
Dick wanted to break down and cry again. The tightness in his chest lessened and he took a deep breath. He could feel his eyes start to water.
“Aww! That's so sweet! Petey thinks his dad is cool!” Stephanie cooed as she placed a hand on her chest. “Sweet nephew.” Cass nodded in approval, smiling lightly.
“Hmm.” Bruce grunted and stood up. He walked over to Dick and placed a hand on his shoulder. Dick looked up at him and smiled, thanking Bruce for the slight comfort. Bruce looked over and addressed Tim. “Did you find anything else Tim?”
Tims face scrunched up and he reluctantly looked back at the report. His expression made Dicks stomach churn in worry. “What did you find Drake?” Damian seemed as tense as the rest of them in that small moment. “There was something else but…”
“But what, Tim?” Dick leaned forward. Anxiously waiting to hear what Tim had to say. “There were very large trace amounts of radiation in his hair follicle. Like, lethal amounts.”
Dicks stomach dropped.
“What..?” Dicks voice was quiet and forced. What did Tim just say? Lethal amounts of radiation?
Dick felt Bruces had squeezed his shoulder. Dick noticed he was shaking slightly. “Radiation? You're going to have to say more than that Tim.” Duke stood up and walked next to Tim, looking at the report.
“There isn't more to say. That's all that I got. There wasn’t much I could get from one strand of hair”
“So we need more?” Stephanie asked. She sounded faintly amused. Tim nodded, “I could get more information about the radiation, so yeah.”
“...Looks like we need to plan out how to steal his hair.” Damian grumbled.
The bats spent the next twenty minutes planning how to steal Peter's hair.
___________________
It's the morning after the meeting, the bats got up early to try and find Peter. They each came up with a plan to get hair from Peter. Duke is the only one out on patrol right now. Stephanie, Damian, and Cass are already at school. Jason is back at Crime Alley and Bruce is in a business meeting, and Dick and Tim are in the cave.
Tim was sitting at the bat computer when Dick walked in in full Nightwing gear. Dick and the others decided it would be a good idea for someone else to patrol in the afternoon to try and find Peter easier. They didn’t know when was the best time to find him, so they added some extra eyes in the daytime.
Dick got ready earlier today and decided to head out for patrol at around eleven. Jason was already looking around Crime Alley. He decided to go out as normal rather than as Red Hood. He hoped it would help Peter trust him more.
“Hey Timmy, I’m heading out - what are you doing?”
Dick walked over to Tim and looked at the batcomputer. He was going to head out when he spotted Tim at the batcomputer. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”
“I don’t have classes in the morning, and I only have one today.” Tim continued what he was doing, not paying Dick any attention.
Right, Wednesdays, Tim only had his chemistry class today at twelve. “Shouldn’t you be heading over already? You're usually gone sooner than this.”
Tim shakes his head. “I only head out early to stop by the café down the street from the school to get something to eat. Obviously I'm skipping that today.”
Dick hummed in acknowledgement and approached Tim, what he saw Tim doing made him pause. “Is that CCTV footage of Crime Alley?” Tim nodded, continuing to quickly skim through the cameras. His other hand was tapping impatiently on the desk. He had a large cup of coffee next to him. His eye bags also seemed to have gotten darker.
Tim looked exhausted, and Dick felt the same way. He was up all night, stressing about Peter. How was he even going to approach Peter if he saw him? What was he going to say? Did he really need to steal a piece of his hair?
Dick was also feeling antsy. He needed to get out and move around, hit people. Flipping around buildings helped him relax. Dick really hoped he’d bump into Peter on his patrol tonight. He wanted the chance to get to talk to him. Since Jason was able to already.
“Uh-huh.”
“What are you trying to find?”
“Peter.”
“He lives in Crime Alley?”
“That's what we assume. Jason met him there the other night, remember?”
Dick hummed. He did remember Jason saying he found Peter in Crime Alley during his patrol. He didn’t think Peter lived there. He kind of hoped Peter didn’t live there.
“Peter doesn’t have an identity and possibly no money. So it’s highly likely he’s living in an abandoned building. So that's where I’m looking.”
Dick looked back up at the screen. Tim was still going through the footage quickly. He looked more and more frustrated the more he looked. Dick was looking through the footage too. He couldn’t find Peter in any of them.
Dick noticed the date on the screen of the footage. 05/13/2014. This footage was from three days ago. Tim then switched the footage and went through the CCTV from May 14th.
Tim spent a few minutes looking through it before he finally spotted Peter. He was walking out of the subway station.
Tim stopped and went to Peter's file. “Okay. So Peter arrived here in Gotham on the 14th of May. He’s currently living in Crime Alley, address unknown. Assumed to be an abandoned building…” Tim's voice trailed off as he entered the information from the CCTV footage.
Peters been alone for two days? This information made Dick even more determined to find him. He had a strong desire to keep Peter safe, even though he hasn’t met Peter yet.
“Hey Dickwing, you there?”
Dick startled at Jason's voice suddenly coming through his coms. “Yeah, I'm here. What do you need Little Wing?”
“I just ran into Peter at a hardware store in Crime Alley.”
That made Dick pause. Jason found Peter?
“When? Is he okay, did he look hurt? Do you think he’s safe? Did he talk to you? What did you two talk about? What did he say? You didn’t intimidate him did you? Do you think he felt safe around you? What am I saying, of course he did, your family. But still, did he look hungry, do people look hungry? I know they can physically obviously, but I mean in other ways, y’know? Does that make sense? Do you think he’s eating well? Does he have any money to eat? Should we give him money? Do you think he would take it? You could just say it's a way to help kids in the Alley and just hand him a wad of cash. Jason, do you have any pocket change? Can you-”
“Dick, shut up! I swear you and Peter are way too alike.”
“...”
“...”
“...You think we're alike?”
“Oh my gods…”
“Jason, where did you see Peter?” Tim asked through his own com. Tim really didn’t want Dick to go on another mini rant. He needs information on Peter as soon as he can get it.
“Like I said he was in a hardware store. He said he was looking for tools for a personal project of his. I stuck up a conversation with him and bought the tools for him.”
Tim started rapidly typing on the computer, “A personal project?”
“Wouldn’t specify.”
“Hmm…”
Personal project, what could he be working on. “Jay, what tools did he get?” Maybe if they knew what tools he got, they could find out what he could be working on.
“Flat head screwdriver, a multimeter, thermal paste, a soldering kit…”
Tim stopped typing, his face scrunched up in confusion. “What could he need those for?”
“Don’t know, I didn’t ask. He already seemed tense talking to me, I didn’t want to push.”
“He was uncomfortable around you?” Dick frowned. Peter was uncomfortable? Why was he uncomfortable around Jason?
“Peter could just be trying to avoid any unknown consequences of you finding out who he is.” Tim resumed typing on the batcomputer. “Consequences?” Dick asked. What was Peter trying to avoid? Why did it make him uncomfortable around Jason?
“You know about the ‘Butterfly Effect’ right?”
“Not a lot…” Dick mumbled. He knew what it was, but not in depth. “Just explain already.” Jason's voice cut through Dicks thoughts. Oops, I forgot he was there…
Tim rolled his eyes. “The Butterfly Effect refers to a small change in the past having a significant impact on the future, potentially leading to unforeseen and paradoxical outcomes. Basically, Peters is trying to avoid Jason, and possibly us too, in order to avoid this. He seemed uncomfortable around Jason because he didn’t know how to act in that moment.”
That made Dick pause. Peter has to avoid us? He needs to? He didn’t want Peter to avoid them. He didn’t want Peter to run away from them, from him. Isn’t there some kind of way around this? Wouldn’t Peter already being here cause the Butterfly Effect since we know about him?
“Peters already here. Doesn’t that already cause problems?”
“It could, especially with us already knowing who he is. Most likely case is that he won't be born anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Not born? What wouldn’t Peter be born anymore? Dick can just have him, can’t he? He can meet Mary sometime in the future and have a kid.
That sounded a little creepier than Dick meant it to…
“Yeah, you know about Mary now. It won't be a chance meeting anymore. Peter came from a one in four hundred trillion chance. That won’t just happen again.”
“So…Peter won’t exist in the future anymore?”
“Nope.”
Dick stared at Peter's file on the screen. He won’t be born again…I won’t get to raise him, see his first steps, hear his first words…
Dick took a deep breath, “Jay, did you Peter talk any after you bought those tools?” Dick wanted to be able to get as much information on Peter as possible. If he had to fish it out of Jason, then so be it. He didn’t want to miss anything.
“I took him to a Bat Burger. He looked like he hadn't eaten in a while. We talked about his living situation and school. He’s not in school, and said he graduated already.”
“Graduated? He’s what, fourteen?”
“Thirteen, and yeah. Said his IQ was 250 or somethin’.”
Tim whistled, impressed. “Damn, really?”
Dick was impressed too. His IQ was at least 155, 250 was insanely impressive. Dick couldn’t help but the pride swelling up in his chest. His son was impressing him more and more by the second.
“His living situation?” Tim asked, snapping Dick out of his thoughts. “He seems to be safe. Clean clothes, decent shoes. He said he was living with his aunt Karen because his parents were on a work trip.”
Aunt Karen? Who could that be?
“Hey Tim, does Mary have any siblings?”
Tim shook his head. “Mary doesn’t have any siblings. He could just be making Karen up.”
“But what if he really traveled back here with her? Or what if she exists but Peter knows we don’t know her yet, and is just using her name?”
Tim sighs. “Then we’ll figure that out.” Tim stood up and grabbed his backpack from off the floor. “I gotta get to class. See you later Dick.” Tim rushed out the door. Dick watched him leave and turned back to the computer. He stared for a few seconds before turning towards the cave exit.
“I'm heading out Jason, see you later.”
“See ya Dickwing.”
Dick might not be able to see Peter's first steps, but he’s going to make sure he won’t see his last.
___________________
As he expected, due to a recent crime spike in Robbinsville, Nightwing quickly got a report about some fight breakout at the Iceberg Lounge. Dick wasn’t the happiest to be dealing with drunk people. Especially this early in the afternoon. He deals with a lot of people drinking everyday, but he hates the ones at the Iceberg Lounge the most.
They tend to go overboard with their drinking. Most people get into fights pretty easily when they're drunk. Goons usually hang around this place too. They place bets on fights and are usually the ones to start them.
Penguins goons do it the most. They see it as a way to make themselves, and their boss, a quick buck. It also doesn’t help that the place is extremely popular. Dick also didn't care for the building's look. It was, how do you put it?
Oh yeah!
Horrendously ugly.
Seriously though, Dick knows it's The Penguins place, but he’s sticking to the bit way too hard.
He hurried over to Robinsville and scoped out the area. The fights were not outside so that meant he had to go into the building. He was about to go in before something else caught his eye.
Dick felt his breath hitch and his eyes widen.
That was…
Peter stopped walking and looked right at him.
Peter!
It was him! His son was looking right at him. He was right there!
Peter looked tired and stiff. Dicks chest felt tight.
BANG!
Dicks gaze shot over to the Iceberg lounge. A group of people stumbled out of the building, clearly drunk. One woman latched onto Peter. Dick felt panic seeing the drunk woman trying to snatch Peter away.
Dick quickly made his way down and got the woman off of Peter. He could hear Peter breath hitch when he spoke. Was he surprised to see me? Happy?
Dick tried to talk to the woman but she was too intoxicated to focus on him. He heard a faint giggle and looked in the direction it came from. It was Peter, watching him from the roof across the street. He noticed Peter flinch when he looked in his direction.
Dick grew anxious as he saw Peter sit on the edge of the roof. He needed to deal with this woman quickly. She, however, was very uncooperative. She even tried to hit him with her bottle. Dick disarmed her and called out to the group of people who just came out of the building. He got her friends to take her away.
Once he saw the woman get in the car with her friends he hurried up to the roof where Peter was.
“Hey there, could you back away from the edge?”
Peter jumped and shrieked. He whipped his head around to face Dick. His gaze was immediately drawn to Peter's eyes.
Peter’s eyes, they were like….hers …No. Nightwing shook his head trying to clear out his head. Don’t look for her in him. She isn’t him and Peter isn’t her. Besides, Tim already confirmed that she wasn’t the mother. There’s nothing of her in Peter. And there never will be.
Still… Nightwing turned his head slightly. Casting a subtle look at Peter as they sat on the roof. This whole situation still has me reeling. I’m not too sure how to approach this… .
Dick couldn't help but stare. He spent a good minute staring at him as he and Peter talked. Cataloging all the similarities and differences they had.
Dick tried his best to strike up a light conversation with Peter. Luckily Peter seemed eager to speak. Dick talked about whatever he could think of. Thankfully Peter was talking back to him and not leaving them in awkward silence.
Though Dick did feel just a bit awkward when Peter had to pretend to not know who he was. Stupid time paradox thing.Just let me hug my son!
Dick glanced over to Peter and noticed he had shrunk in on himself. This made Dicks heart break just a bit.
"You okay kid. You got pretty quiet just now?"
Peter spared a quick look in Dicks direction. He shit his gaze back down to his lap. "I'm okay. Just missing home a bit."
Well if that wasn’t enough to shatter Dicks heart. Peter looked so tired. Dick wanted nothing more than to wrap his son up in a blanket and take him home. He, unfortunately, could not as that would be considered kidnapping.
“Yeah, I get that. I have to go away on missions a lot. I’m usually away from my home more often then I’m in it.”
“Vigilantism sounds sucky.” Peter sounded sour as he said this. The tone in his voice made Dick confused. Why did he sound so upset about vigilantism? What made him feel this way?
A thought crossed his mind, very briefly. It sounded ridiculous but at the same time almost heartbreaking. Dick continued talking to Peter about vigilantes, trying to understand how he feels about them a bit more.
Does Peter feel this way about vigilantes…because of me? Dick said so himself. He’s out as Nightwing more than he is at home. He rarely has any time to take a break. When he does get a break, he mostly spends them training.
He always tries to make time for his other family members. He usually does too, but it’s not a lot. The most he and his siblings do together is training and going out on patrol and missions.
Am I the reason he looks so sad? Am I the reason he doesn’t seem to like vigilantes?
Dick always thought of having kids of his own. One thing he was very set in was not allowing his kids to be vigilantes. He didn’t want his kids to hold such responsibilities. Dick wanted his kids to have happy normal childhoods.
Would I have time for a kid?
Dick doesn’t know what he’s like in the future. Hopefully, he isn’t as bad as he thinks he is. Dick doesn't want to be the reason Peter paints vigilantism is a bad light. Dick doesn't want to be a bad father.
Dick and Peter keep talking. Dick hopes that what he says makes Peter see vigilanties, see him in a different light, in a better light. It seems to work as Peter looks strangely content. He looks at Dick like he’s seeing a whole new person.
Please future me, don’t be a bad dad…
Dick grew more and more fond of Peter as their conversation continued. He liked talking to Peter. Dick hoped to get more chances like this in the near future.
Dick looked back at Peter and noticed Peter already looking at him. Peter looked almost lost as he looked at Dick, confused. He looked at Dick like he was a puzzle, trying to figure out which piece of him went where.
“You okay kid?” Peter looked up and met Dicks eyes through his mask. “Yeah, I'm good.” Peter looked calm as he said this, almost happy. Dick smiled and ruffled Peter's hair. He laughed when Peters shrieked and swatted his hand away.
“Nightwing, are you there?”
Dick held his hand up to his ear when he heard Barbara's voice. “Hey O, I'm here.” Dick noticed Peter perked up slightly when he spoke. He probably realized it was Barbara calling for me. Dick smiled.
“There's an emergency in The Bowery, Signal needs some backup.”
“I'm on my way.” Dick stood up and stretched. “Sorry Peter, I've gotta head out.” Peter looked up at him and smiled. “See ya.”
Dick took out his grappling hook and headed off to the Bowery.
He also managed to get another hair from Peter.
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That night the Bats got together in the cave to discuss all of what happened today. The only bats who managed to find Peter today were: Jason. Dick, Tim, and Stephanie. The four bats were currently sharing the information they had gathered on Peter.
“So we basically figured out that Steph is ‘Karen’ from what Peter told us.” Tim reported to the rest of the Bats. The bats were confused as to why Peter had claimed to have come back with Stephanie. Was she involved with Peter coming back? Did she know about his trip? Was she actually here with him?
Duke yawned as he sat down at the table. “Do you think Steph traveled back with Peter?”
Tim shook his head, “No I don’t think she did. Steph was most likely the first person to pop into Peter's head the moment Jason asked about Peter's guardian.”
“Why Karen?” Stephanie scrunched her nose in disgust, like being named Karen was the worst thing imaginable.
“Peter seemed to be thinking for a minute when I asked him if he was staying with anybody. Probably couldn't come up with a good name.” Jason looked mildly amused at her expression.
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “He said that I was his moms sister.”
“Obviously that was a lie.” Dick crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Stephanie. Stephanie shrugged, “Yeah I know. Can’t blame me for being confused about it though.”
Jason sighed, looking at Cass. “You got anything to report Cass?” Cassandra just looked around at everyone and shook her head. “What about you Jason?” Duke asked. “You’ve met him the most so far.”
Damian nodded, “Yes. Todd do you? You seem to be the only one that can find Peter.” Jason shook his head. “Don’t know anymore that the rest of you do now. All we talked about was ‘Karen’ and…” Duke raised an eyebrow at Jason. “And..? What? What else did you talk about with Peter?”
Jason looked at everyone at the table. He rubbed his hands together, feeling anxious. “He spoke a bit about his…parents.” The rest of the bats stared at him in silence. Dick looked incredulous. “What!” Steph yelled, slamming her hands on the table.
Dang, she beat me to it. Dick thought. “You talked to Peter about Richard and his mother? Why did you not tell us this Todd?” Damian scowled at Jason, crossing his arms. Jason threw his hands up defensively. “To be honest…I forgot.”
“You forgot!” Dick yelled, slamming his hands on the table. “Look I was going to, obviously. But Babs called in a possible drug ring down in the Narrows. I got distracted with that and forgot to tell you.”
Dick sighed heavily and slumped down in his chair. He looked over towards Bruce at the batcomputer. He was updating Peter's file. “Can you tell what he said about Dick and his mom?” Duke asked. “Yes, please tell us.” Cass signed. They both leaned closer to Jason, eager to hear what he had to say.
“Alright, alright! Jeez, back up.” Jason held his hands and pushed the two away. Dick laughed a bit at the sight. Jason shot him a glare. “Come on Jay, what did Peter say about me?” Dick leaned slightly closer to Jason. He really wanted to hear what Peter had said about him.
Please don’t let me be a bad dad.
“Well, he didn’t say much. All he said was that they ranted about science a lot and taught him acrobatics.”
Oh. Of course!
Dick could feel a giddy smile spread across his face. Of course I taught my son acrobatics!
Dick couldn't help but feel exhilarated at what Jason said. He taught Peter acrobatics. He had a partner who knew, and liked it too. Peter probably loved acrobatics too! They taught their son together!
“Calm down there Dickwing. You're too excited.” Jason looked a bit concerned as he leaned away from Dick. “How can I not be happy! Peter probably loves acrobatics. We could do it together! How did he look when he talked about it? Did he look happy?”
Jason side eyed the other bats before turning back to Dick. He nodded, “Yeah, Peter looked happy when he talked about how you and his mom would teach him.”
Dick felt like he was going to burst from excitement.
Duke felt like that was the time to change the subject. “Okay, let's move on before Dick explodes.”
Cass turned her attention towards Tim, “New samples?”
“Oh right.” Tim dug a plastic bag out of his pocket and showed it to the rest of the bats. “When me and Steph met Peter at the library earlier today; we managed to get another piece of his hair.” Tim laid the bag on the table.
“I'm the one who got it!”
“Yes Steph we know. Anyway, did anyone else manage to get any hair?” Tim looked around the table.
Dick, who finally calmed down from his earlier excitement, spoke up. “I actually did.” Dick took out another plastic bag and laid it next to Tims. “When did you get this one Richard?”
“I met Peter near the Iceberg Lounge earlier. We talked for a bit before I was called away to help Duke in the Bowery.” Tim smiled and picked up the two bags. He took them over to Bruce and they both began analyzing them.
“Well, that's gonna take an hour or two, you guys wanna play Slap Jack?” Stephanie pulled out a deck of cards and put them on the table.
The bats looked at each other and picked up the cards.
“Hopefully it won’t take too long.” Dick mumbled under his breath.
__
It, unfortunately, did take an hour to get the results.
“There are very high traces of radiation in Peter's hair. Bruce and I weren’t able to get an estimated amount. We also assume that Peter's blood could be toxic to the point it can't be touched directly…In all honestly he should be dead. I really don't know how he’s still walking around.”
Tim read the results of the tests that he and Bruce did on the hairs Steph and Dick collected. Every word he said increased the pit growing in Dicks stomach. Dick wasn’t the only one in the room feeling like their stomach was twisting into knots. The rest of the bats sat uneasily.
“We also weren’t able to identify the type of radiation in his hair. I don’t think more hair samples will help identify anything anymore. If I could get my hands on his blood in the future…” Tims words trailed off as he started to mumble.
The thought of having to collect Peter's blood made Dick uneasy for a number of reasons. “Didn’t you say his blood could be toxic to the point of it being harmful to touch? Why would you want to collect it?”
Dick really didn’t want to have to see Peter get hurt. He also didn’t want Tim to take advantage of that to collect blood to test.
“Well, yeah, but I could probably get more results. It's a hypothetical anyway. I’m not gonna go out of my way to get Peter hurt to get blood.”
“So, what do we do about this?” Jason grunted, a weird edge to his voice.
“What do you mean?”
“Peter is radioactive, how the hell did he get that way? Experimentation?”
Stephanie gasped, “Do you think? How could that happen?”
Stephanie had a point. Peter was part of the bat family. There were probably people who wanted to hurt him, but who would be able to? Batman as a grandfather, Nightwing as a dad, and the rest of the bats as his family too. Who would be able to get to Peter and hurt him?
Bruce was, once again, updating Peter's file on the batcomputer. “Did you four notice anything when you spoke to him? Any strange quirks? Possible signs of abilities?” Bruce paused his update and spun around in his chair to face the others.
“You think he might be a meta?” Tim had already checked for a possible metagene in Peter. The results came back negative. Mary and Dick also didn’t possess a meta gene, so Peter having one wasn’t very likely.
“Meta humans can also gain powers by exposure to radiation. In Peter's case, the high levels that he possesses have the potential to change him.”
“Well, I didn’t really notice anything ‘out of the ordinary’ when we spoke.” Stephanie said. Tim nodded along to what she said. “I didn’t notice anything either.”
“Neither did I…” Dick trailed off, thinking of his interaction with Peter earlier that day.
Jason shook his head. “Seemed pretty normal to me…” He couldn’t remember anything that could be classified as a possible power from his talks with Peter.
Tim sighed, “Well, like I said earlier. There's only so much I can get from a hair sample. Blood would get a lot more results…”
Damian crossed his arms and scowled. “We are not harming him, Drake.”
“I didn’t say that Damian!”
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