It's A Day
Peter filled in the last circle, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. Quietly as he could, he slipped out of his seat and put the packet on the instructor's desk. They smiled and nodded at him and Peter walked out of the classroom. He sat down in a chair outside the threshold, and began the wait.
“So, how did you do?” a familiar voice asked.
Peter smiled at a blushing Tim. “I think I did alright. I know I did pretty poorly on the history segment, but I did my best. I just hope that’s enough.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“So, what are you doing here, anyways? You’re already a student, aren’t you?”
Tim laughed (nervously?). “Let’s just say an interested party wanted to see how you did.”
“Dude, if you were curious about me, you could just say so.”
“...fine, I wanted to see how you did.” (Was that the full truth, or was Tim hiding something?)
Peter snorted. “Okay. Has your curiosity been satisfied?”
“Yep. Well, not fully, since we don’t know the full results yet, but! We’re halfway there, since you’re probably going to be a good source for how well you did.”
Peter hummed, clasping his hands behind his head. “I think the test has about an hour left, so we might be here for a bit.”
“I brought Uno. You know how to play?”
“I think so, but the rules might be different here.” A beat. “I mean! Show me? Just in case?” Fuck, that wasn’t good. Peter snuck a glance at Tim, who hadn’t seemed to notice, thank fucking god.
“Yeah, no problem man.”
Tim dealt the cards, explaining the rules. Luckily, they did appear to be the same here, so they were playing just fine in no time. A couple of rounds later and the rest of the students were waiting for the results alongside Pete and Tim. In lieu of actually talking to the children, a simple piece of paper was posted outside the classroom door with the names of those who made the cut.
Peter and Tim high-fived. “Congrats! I’ll see you in a week at school?” Tim asked.
Peter snorted. “Only if you don’t show up to the Iceberg before then. Think you can go without seeing me for that long?” he teased.
“I don’t know, Pete,” Tim deadpanned. “I might go into withdrawal.”
Peter laughed, shoving him a little. “Whatever you say, dude.”
“Well, he got in,” Tim reported. “He also said, and I quote, ‘The rules might be different here’ when I asked if he wanted to play Uno. What the fuck does that even mean???”
Dick hummed thoughtfully. “Good question. It certainly lends credence to the alien theory, that’s for sure. Alright, see if you can find Spider-Man on your patrol tonight. Bruce mentioned wanting to have a word with him.”
Tim snorted. “I’m sure he did. Yeah I’ll see what I can do. Maybe. It depends on what Bruce’s definition of ‘a word’ is. Also Pete had these really weird markings on his wrist. They almost looked like… never mind.”
“Looked like what?”
“I don’t wanna say.”
“Fine, keep your secrets. Alright, I’m done with everyone’s bullshit for the night. It’s date night and if I’m interrupted I’m not going to be happy.”
Tim gagged. “Neither will anyone else, trust me. Alright, say hi to Kori for me.”
“Will do.”
“Well, I got in!”
Pam ruffled his hair affectionately. “And the restaurant has made sure your hours won’t cut into school, right?”
“Yep! I think that’s against the law, and they’re pretty careful to avoid that whenever they can.”
“I know the feeling. You have uniforms and everything?”
“Not yet, but I’m working on it. They’re pretty expensive, so it’ll take a good chunk of change, but I’m sure I can afford one before school starts.”
“Red!” Harley called out. “They’re here! The delivery guy was a bit weirded out to be delivering to a park, but hey, it’s Gotham, what ya gonna do?”
Pam collected the box from Harley and opened it smoothly. Peter gawked at the three brand new suits that she presented to him. “What? That had to be like, $300! I can’t accept that!”
“Peter, they’re already here, and Harley and I certainly don't need them. You, on the other hand…” Pam stared at him meaningfully.
Peter blinked, then swallowed, then blinked some more. “I— thank you. Oh my god, thank you so much! Is there any way I can repay you?”
Harley nodded. “Yep! Get good grades for us, kiddo. And even if it’s one year, make it the best year of school you possibly can! And come see us weekly. It can get lonely here with just the two of us!”
Peter beamed and hugged the two women tightly. “Thank you so much! Seriously!”
“Show them rich kids what’s what, ya here?”
“Will do, Dr. Quinn!”
“That’s my boy!”
Peter carefully fixed the line of non-dissolving web, and delicately hung the new uniforms. He wouldn’t need them for a week or two, so he kept them in the packaging to try and keep the dust off of them. Satisfied, he stared out at his humble abode, humming appreciatively at the improvements he’d made in just a week. He had his blanket corner, his duffel bag next to that, a thrifted plastic set of drawers where he kept the few clothing he had, a lamp on top of that, and a box of tools that someone had thrown out. He had a box of food that he had difficulty keeping full but it was fine, there were soup kitchens and Bruno always had extra food for him after the restaurant closed at night.
With nothing else to do besides contemplate the weird biological changes, Peter slipped on his suit and headed out. Maybe he would run into Signal again!
Following the low buzz of danger at the back of his skull, Peter played a game of hot and cold, getting warmer and warmer the louder and more intense his spidey sense became. Soon enough, he was lurking above the gathering of goons with some clown makeup on, listening in to their discussion.
“Boss says he’s gonna be out any day now.”
“I don’t know, man, he keeps saying that and then doesn’t do anything.”
“Are you questioning him?”
“Of course not! I would never! I just worry, that’s all.”
“You think he’ll want us to bring Harley back to him?”
“Couldn’t hurt, right?”
“Anything to get on his good side.”
Peter blinked. His Harley? Dr. Quinzel?
“She still in Robinson Park, you think?”
“Dunno where else she would be.”
“Alright. We’ll grab her tonight then.”
“We’ll meet back here at 5, then we head over together. They won’t know what hit ‘em.”
“Damn right you won’t,” Peter muttered. Immediately, he began swinging over to Robinson Park. There was no time to lose, not with Pam and Harley at risk.
“Hey, Spidey!” a voice called. Peter turned, seeing Signal, well, signaling him.
“Signal! Whaddya need?”
“I need to break up one of Black Mask’s operations and I could use some backup. You down?”
“I’ll meet you back here in five!”
“Where do you have to be?”
“I overheard some goons in clown getup talking about nabbing a friend of mine. I’m not worried— she can handle herself, I just want to make sure she has all the heads up she needs, ya know?”
“Clown getup? Shit, Joker’s goons!”
“Joker?”
“The clown prince of crime, the psycho that has hurt just about everyone in this city at one point or another. Thanks for the heads up, I gotta warn Bats!”
“Yeah, no problem, I’ll be right back!”
Thwipping as fast as he could, Peter launched from tree top to tree top before sprinting inside the vegetation tunnel. “Dr. Quinn! Miss Ivy? You here?”
Harley met him half-way, with Pam close behind. “Yeah, toots, what’s going on?”
“Joker’s goons, they’re going to try and grab you tonight. I know you can handle yourself, but I really don’t want you to be caught off guard. Something tells me they won’t play fair.”
Harley’s entire demeanor darkened, a sneer crossing her face. “Oh really? They think they’re gonna do that, huh? Well, thank you kiddo. We’ll have our gas masks on and meet ‘em outside to keep ‘em away from Red’s babies. Stay safe, Spider-Man!”
“You too, ma’am! It was nice seeing you guys, I gotta go, bye!”
Peter was back on the rooftop in five minutes, landing softly beside Signal. “Alright, man, let’s do this.”
Together, they made their way to a warehouse a couple miles downtown and stopped on a rooftop across from it. “What’s the plan?”
“Currently, they’re just bringing in a large shipment of cocaine. All we have to do is subdue everyone while the Commissioner gets here with his men. Think you’re up for it?”
Peter snorted. “Buddy, I was born ready.”
With that, the two of them leapt down, kicking open the large door and got to work. Spider-Man and Signal jumped this way and that, dodging bullets and doing complex moves to take the goons down. They were done in just ten minutes, with the cops showing up afterwards. Signal stuck around, but Peter had places to be, food to eat, and cops to avoid. He didn’t care how friendly they were to Signal and Red Robin, old habits die hard, and it would take a long time for Peter to be willing to let his guard down around them. Or another super, for that matter. Fucking Quentin…
Peter helped get a cat down from a tree, stopped several muggings, walked a couple of girls home, helped an old lady with her groceries (she gave him the stink eye the whole time, until the groceries were all inside. Then she smiled pleasantly at Peter), and made it back to his house by sundown. He then made his way over to the rooftop where he meditated. Well, maybe not meditated, per say, but it was close enough! He sat there and breathed deeply and thought about life and shit, that was meditation, right? Whatever.
About five minutes in, another figure landed next to Peter, and Peter looked up to see Nightwing settling down next to him. “You’re in Hood’s territory again.”
“So are you,” Nightwing retorted.
Peter snorted. “He hasn’t come to tell me off yet, or shoot at me, so I think I’m good. Hopefully. Anyways, what’s up? What do you want from Spidey?”
“I know you might be new to not just Gotham, but kinda this world?”
“Do you know that?” Peter interrupted. “Or are you just guessing because you’ve never heard of ‘Spider-Man’ before?”
“Meh, details. My point is, I have a friend that would be very interested in having another teen hero.”
“You don’t know I’m a teenager.”
“Don’t I? Let’s just say it’s an educated guess.”
“And what if I am?”
“Then there’s a spot for you on the Teen Titans.”
“Damn right there is,” Red Robin chimed, sitting down on Peter’s other side.
“Or!” Peter interrupted. “I could stay in Gotham since school is about to start up. And I’m only just barely a non-adult, so I don’t know if teams with the names ‘teen’ or ‘young’ would want me for very long.”
“Technically, the Teen Titans is just the old name. Most of us are in our twenties now and just go by ‘Titans.’”
Peter rolled his eyes. “I’ll think about it, thanks. Now get off Peter’s rooftop! We’re due for an appointment in a couple of minutes.”
The two heroes turned to Peter. “What?”
“You heard me! You didn’t think he was just informing the Bats and Hood, did you?”
“How about we wait for him together?” Nightwing suggested.
Peter narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t just about joining a team, is it? You’re waiting for Batman and you’re keeping me here. You know what? Peter will understand if I don’t make it. Spider-Man out.”
With that Peter swung off the roof and led them around the city before he managed to lose them. He ducked into an alley where he had webbed his backpack, put the clothes on over his spider-suit, and walked back to his rooftop. He climbed up the fire escape to the roof, and waited. Hood was visiting him almost nightly now, and he would worry if Peter was late.
After a couple of minutes, heavy footfalls and an unexpected swoosh of heavy fabric landed on the roof. “You’re not Red Hood,” Peter mused, not looking away from his view of the polluted sunset.
“No, I’m not,” said a gruff voice. “How’d you tell?”
“He doesn’t have a cape. Smart move, if you ask me. ‘No capes!’” He imitated Edna Mode’s voice.
“If you’re referencing something, I don’t know what it is.”
Peter squinted. “You guys don’t have— nevermind. Why are you willing to risk being in Red Hood’s territory to talk to me? What do you want?”
“Nightwing and Red Robin say you’re in contact with Spider-Man.”
“Yeah, he’s a little jealous, not gonna lie. The guy doesn’t like to share a whole lot.” Peter chuckled. “Kinda like you and your city...”
“Hmm. Do you have any new intel for us?”
“No. I had the day off.”
“Did you find anything else?”
Peter finally turned and looked up at Batman. “I just said I had the day off.”
“I know. Oracle says she’s seen you get into a couple of scrapes even when you’re not at the Iceberg.”
Fuck, Peter had forgotten that the Bats had an all-seeing goddess with eyes in every camera. Fucking creepy. “Well I didn’t get into any today. I can stay out of danger!”
Silence.
Peter squawked. “What? I can! God, you’re as bad as Tony!”
“Who’s Tony?”
Peter went quiet. “No one. He’s no one, just like me. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Do you miss it? Your home planet?”
“I’m not answering something that obvious. Try again later.”
“Fair enough.”
And the Batman left. And Peter was alone. Well, maybe not quite alone. “You alright, kid?”
“I’m fine Mr. Red Hood, thanks for asking.”
“I can beat him up for you.”
“I’m sure you can. Please don’t try though. I rather appreciate both of you in one piece.”
“Whatever you say kid. Stay safe, goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Red Hood left Peter with a familiar bag of takeout. At least Peter had dinner.