What's in a Name?
Richard Grayson.
It was the fake name he and Ned had decided on for when Peter needed to be somewhere but couldn’t be, well, Peter. It wasn’t just baby-sitting protocols in Tony’s systems that they were trying to avoid.
It was also the name his dad originally wanted to give him. He only heard about this second hand of course, and he didn’t know why his dad finally acquiesced to the name Peter Parker, but originally he had wanted the name Richard Grayson.
Richard after himself, and Grayson after his mother, Peter’s grandmother, who had been the last of the Grayson family before marrying into the Parkers. It was a way to keep the name alive. So when it came time for Peter to create a fake civvie identity, well, he figured it was a good way to honor his dad.
It was also, apparently, the name that caused Nightwing’s eyes to bug out, to practically pop through the domino mask just to stare at him. The man was white as a sheet, and looked like he could be blown away like one too. For a second Peter almost considered hopping back down to ask what was wrong, but, well, he was already trying to escape the vigilante, and if he had accidentally shocked the man into stasis then it would be that much easier. So instead he ran across the rooftop, hopping from one roof to the next across the city, only stopping when he had to duck into an alley while the void of a figure that was Batman passed by in the other direction, no doubt headed to meet up with Nightwing.
He really had grown attached to apartment 141, but maybe it was for the best that he had to leave it. Perhaps he could even find somewhere a bit closer to the library. It would still have to be abandoned of course, but it’d be nice.
–––––
“Nightwing, do you copy?”
The voice buzzed in his ear. He couldn’t hear it. His mind was running a thousand miles an hour, and any outside noise was lost in the wind.
“Oracle, give me his vitals.”
A rougher voice, the low tones melting into the normal buzz of the communications system. Still, he could not hear it. There was a mystery, laid out right before him. No. Not laid out. Thrown in his face. Why would the league be using his name? Did they know about him? About his secret identity? No, they wouldn’t have said it to his face then. Unless it was some sort of ploy. Was it meant to make him overthink it? Was he overthinking it?
“Sending them now, his heart rate is elevated but otherwise he seems fine. Nightwing, do you copy? Nightwing?”
The first voice seemed a little more concerned now, but even that couldn’t get him out of the mess that was his brain right now. Then the second voice came back as a shadow came down in his vision.
“I’ve got eyes on him, no sign of injury, no hostiles present.”
And suddenly he found himself looking at Batman. At Bruce, and that was enough to snap him out of it. He put a hand up to his comm, making sure Oracle could hear as Bruce watched him with worried eyes.
“Sorry, I’m alright. I’ve got a name for our newest problem in the league.”
Batman’s eyes narrowed as he watched and listened intently to what Dick said next.
“He says his name is Richard Grayson.”
There was silence over the comms as Batman gave him a look that to all others would be inscrutable. Yet it was one he knew well. Just like him, Batman’s mind was racing through the possibilities. Unlike him, however, he was not frozen in it.
“Oracle, I want a full team meetup at the Cave, send the word out now. Patrols can wait until after we’ve debriefed from this. We have to consider the possibility our identities have been breached.”
–––––
Tim wasn’t used to seeing them all in the cave at the same time. Hell, he wasn’t used to seeing them all in one place at the same time. The only one missing was Barbara, but she was looped into the conversation through the bat computer. Sure, things had been getting better, most of the family was no longer trying to avoid the rest of the family, but times like these were still rare. He wished it had occurred under better circumstances.
Jason was the first to speak, his eyes locked firmly onto Bruce’s.
“What’s this all about?” It was a reasonable enough question, but he could tell there were a hundred more hiding just underneath his brother’s cold exterior.
“Dick?” Bruce responded, clearly now was the time to report his findings.
“We have a follow up on Tim’s check in with the league off-shoot. They do in fact have a kid working with them.”
Tim wasn’t sure whether to be satisfied that he was right, or incredibly worried about what this meant for the kid. All around the room he could see the tenseness that had fallen upon everyone. Each of them knew in their own way what it meant to be wrapped up in this life well before they could have come to terms with it. Damian looked downright ill at the news, he knew better than any of them what the league could do to a kid. For a time he had even taken pride in it. That only made this worse.
“And.”
The word hung heavy in the air as it left Dick’s lips. They all knew there had to be more to it. A kid in the league was a problem, but not one that required all of them together in person. Still, they had each hoped in their own silent way that there wouldn’t be more.
“He gave me a name. Almost certainly a fake one, but…”
Dick paused for a moment. That’s how Tim knew there was something really wrong. He had a flare for the dramatic, sure, but Dick wasn’t one to keep them in suspense on important things like this. Something was weighing heavy on his mind.
“He said his name was Richard Grayson.”
All around the room, eyes widened. Jason mumbled some curse or another under his breath. Stephanie followed suit. Duke’s mouth was hanging open but no words came out. Cass was nervously tapping her fingers on her leg in what could have been Morse code just as easily as it could be Beethoven’s fifth. Even Dick, having just said it, seemed to be struggling to process what he had said. Only Tim himself, Bruce, and surprisingly Damian seemed somewhat unaffected. And Tim was fairly sure he knew why. All three of them were thinking the same thing.
“Do we think Talia outed our names to her contingent?” He spoke up, putting their shared idea into words.
“For the time being we cannot confirm that. There is still a chance, however small, that this could be a coincidence. That being said, I want two of you watching the league's movements at all times. Tim, you were already looking into it, so put together a report of what you know so far. We’ll rotate who is watching them on a twice-a-week basis, any and all information goes into Tim’s report. Understood?”
Even now, having been around him for however many years, Tim had to admit it was a little frightening how quickly Bruce could slip back into being Batman in the middle of a conversation.
“Tim and Damian, you two are on watch first, Tim that should give you time to put together a report. And Damian, you know the most about how they would train and use a kid, see if you can find any signs of it. Barbara, I want a triple check on the Gotham censuses for the past ten years. Check for the name RIchard Grayson. If nothing comes up, expand the search to the past twenty years and include other major cities like Metropolis or Central City.”
Dick spoke up once more, seeming to have gotten some measure of his thoughts in order.
“He doesn’t fight like the league. Before I got distracted by his name, I did some hand-to-hand with him, trying combinations I used to use on you,” He nodded towards Damian, “to see how he would react. He doesn’t fight the way you used to. I'm not sure yet what that means, but it’s possible the league has begun to change their tactics, whether before or after the split. It’s also possible that he wasn’t originally trained by the league.”
Dick paused again, and Tim could practically see him trying to pick one thought out of the many whizzing by in his head.
“Someone should check in on Slade. See if he’s taken in any apprentices recently.”
–––––
Peter found himself once more in the penthouse at the top of the Avengers Tower. It was daylight now, and beyond the glass in front of him he could see the city, his city. He could see the cars lining the streets, the familiar skyline that stretched out before him. He could reach out his senses and feel the heart of the city. There was a tenseness in the air, like the smell right before a rainstorm, where it lingers and you just know something big is coming. The city was pulling in on itself, preparing itself, even if it didn’t realize it. He could hear the cars beeping in the road, he could hear their drivers getting ever more aggravated, he could hear the whispers behind closed doors, the drawing of blinds. He could hear the heartbeat of a city preparing for its own demise. He could hear it.
He could also hear two voices, speaking from behind him. When he finally tuned into their conversation his heart leapt in his chest. It was Tony.
“But, let’s do a headcount here,” His voice was younger than Peter could ever recall hearing it. “Your brother, the demigod.”
The other person scoffed, and it was only then that Peter thought to look at who it was. When he turned his gaze he found himself startled to find it was also someone he recognized, though they had not interacted before. Loki stood there, scepter in hand. This must have been just before the battle for New York, when Loki was still planning world domination. Still trying to call the alien army to him.
“A super soldier, a living legend who kinda lives up to the legend,” Tony continued, “ a man with breathtaking anger management issues, a couple’a master assassins and you,” he pointed at Loki, “big fella, you managed to piss off every single one of them.”
“That was the plan.” If one could sneer with their voice, Loki was.
“Not a great plan,” Tony began to walk towards Loki, drink in hand, “When they come, and they will, they’ll come for you.”
“I have an army.”
“We have a Hulk.”
“Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off.”
Tony cut him off, voice rising with the slightest tinge of anger.
“Yeah, you’re missing the point, there’s no throne. There is no version of this, where you come out on top.”
Tony was staring him down now, to the point that Loki turned away, looking out the window over the city.
“Now maybe your army comes and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you. Cause if we can’t protect the Earth you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.”
Loki turned back towards Tony, mouth open to say something as he froze mid turn. Peter could feel Loki’s eyes burning a hole in him as the world around them froze, like a picture. A moment in time trapped forever.
“Interesting. And who are you?” He took a step towards Peter as Peter took a step back. Just as he opened his mouth to give some witty reply Loki held his hand up to silence him.
“Ah ah, I can feel it. I can sense inside your mind… little spider~”
There was a sense of manic glee in his voice as that wretched nickname came out of his mouth.
“How?” Was all Peter could get out. He had been certain he had no real presence in these dreams. Even now he could not see his own body when he looked down.
“We’re inside your head right now, aren’t we?” He spoke every word with joy, as if Peter’s fright was entertainment to him. Perhaps it was. “Memories of a place and time you never were, dreams of the past. These are but stories, spiderling, and stories are my domain.”
“What do you want with me?!” Peter was shaking now, his spider sense was flaring in every direction, yet not a single word was getting through from it.
“What do I want? Adorable. I did not draw you here, spider. That you dreamt of this was mere coincidence. A gift of the cosmos, allowing you vision into events of which you were not present.”
He gave a frightening smile then, before he continued.
“No, what you should be asking is, why are you here? Something doesn’t quite add up, and you can feel it. Your mind is reaching out and touching things it was never a part of.”
Loki frowned then, his eyes flashing a more vibrant, almost neon green as he focused, before he spoke once more.
“You're no longer in our world, are you? However did you manage that, little spider…” he tutted at Peter, mocking before he flashed that creepy smile once more.
“Something tells me you’ll soon be very glad for my company…”
And with that he waved his hand downward over Peter’s face as green light poured from it. Peter could feel his eyelids growing heavy, he began to sway in place as he fought it, but he couldn’t fight it for long. As he struggled Loki turned back towards Tony, and the scene around him came back to life.
“How will your friends have time for me, when they’re so busy fighting you?”
Peter fell to the ground as his eyes closed.