Worlds Away

“So, how was your Christmas break?” Ari asked. 

“It was pretty nice.”

“Hey, I heard about the thing you did with the orphans.”

Peter blinked. “You did?” 

Ari leaned a bit closer like they were delivering a scandalous secret. “Little known fact, heroes are shameless gossips, and when it’s good news, I join in. Everyone was talking about how Spider-Man made these orphans’ Christmas, and I got to preen and say that that was my patient, and yes, he is an amazingly kind person!”

Peter blushed and glanced away, making Ari chuckle. “You’re a good person, Pete. And now just about every hero knows it. Now, the important thing is that hopefully you can realize it too. Alright, I saw some of the headlines for the Wayne Gala, how did that go? Did you have any fun?”

Peter smiled, sinking into the couch a bit more. “I did, actually. I danced with Duke, Steph, Cass, and Tim, and then we hid in the ceiling the rest of the time.”

Ari threw her head back slightly, cackling. “See, this is the kind of thing that you never hear about in the papers. What else happened? You said you managed to get Jason over for Christmas, right?”

Peter stilled a little at that, rubbing the back of his neck. “Tim had a flashback in the middle of a snowball fight.”

Ari’s eyebrows raised a little, and they scribbled something down in her notebook. “What of, if you don’t mind me asking?”

 “Apparently when Jason first came back to life, he decided to take a trip over to Titan’s Tower and beat Tim within an inch of his life.”

Ari’s eyebrows raised a little more. “Fuck.”

Peter chuckled. “Right? This family, I swear to god.”

“So what happened after that?”

“Well, Jason came up a couple hours later and finally apologized to Tim for it. It happened over a year ago, but Jason had just been too anxious to do anything about it beforehand, you know?”

“Anxious how?”

“He just didn’t want to corner Tim or talk to him at all, feeling guilty.”

“Interesting. And how are you handling all of this?”

Peter blinked, brain stuttering. Ari chuckled a little. “You haven’t bothered to think about your own feelings in the face of everything, huh?”

Peter sighed. “Am I that obvious?”

“I wouldn’t use that word, but kinda, yeah.”

Peter pondered for a moment, taking a couple of deep breaths. “I think I agree with what Tim said.”

“What did Tim say?”

“That he was grateful I got to know the Jason that Tim wanted in his life, a caring older brother kind of guy. I’m pretty grateful too, you know?”

“I bet. He sounds like an amazing friend to have, and you definitely need that. Speaking of which, how’s that living arrangement going? You having any problems in that area?”

Peter shook his head. “Nah, Jason’s great. It’s been harder lately, cause I can’t stop thinking about what Tim said.”

Ari hummed. “And by ‘thinking’ you mean ‘feeling guilty about.’”

Peter opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, glaring insincerely when Ari raised their eyebrows meaningfully. “Hey,” Peter eventually said. “Not cool.”

“But correct! Okay, how’s patrol been going?”

“Well, now that Christmas is over, criminals are back to their bullshit. They keep aiming to capture me, not just incapacitating or killing. I’m super fucking worried about what that could mean.”

“That’s fair. Any idea why yet, or is progress on that pretty slow?”

“No, but the meetings Aunt Pam and Aunt Harley are having with the Cadre seem to be leading up to… something. I’m not sure what, though.”

“Gotcha. Well, that’s our time for today. Lovely as always to be chatting with you, Peter. I will see you… say, next Friday? At six?”

“Sounds great, Ari. See you then.”

Peter groaned, swallowing his dry throat. His head hurt like a bitch, and as he went to cradle his pounding noggin, he found that something was vaguely tugging his arms behind his back. 

“How is he awake?!” a voice hissed. “We just administered it!”

Peter’s eyes were open in an instant, flicking towards the mysterious voice. Three people wearing gas masks and sunglasses were looking back at him. Peter jerked up, mind racing. What happened? He had been in chemistry class, trying not to fall asleep during Professor Milo’s lecture, and then his Spidey Sense had gone off. Peter had only been able to look around in time to see a canister of gas fall from the ceiling, leaking fumes. Then he was out. And now he was back. 

“Give him an injection. He may be a metahuman, and we don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

“What do you want?” Peter mumbled. 

“Don’t you know?” another kidnapper asked, tilting their head to the side. “This school is full of rich little kids. Just one person paying ransom is enough, but why have one when you could have a classroom full?”

The third had pulled out a needle and approached, and Peter jerked away as best he could. The other two held him in place and the needle went in, and Peter went out.

 “—st have given him a double dose or something.”

Peter blinked, feeling nauseous at the throbbing pain in his skull. “Fuckin’ hell,” he slurred. 

“Peter!” Steph whispered. “You’re awake!” 

Peter nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

Peter cringed at the too bright lights as he tried to force his eyes open. One eyelid at a time, Peter squinted as his friends came into focus. They were all tied together, he, Tim, Duke, and Steph. There were twelve other students in the classroom, tied up in fours in each corner of the classroom, while Professor Milo was tied up underneath the blackboard. “What happened?” Peter mumbled.

“We’re being held for ransom,” Tim deadpanned. “Congrats. It’s a rite of passage for all Wayne’s.”

“Dude, don’t give me your last name yet, we haven’t even known each other for a year,” Peter garbled.

Tim exhaled sharply in a quiet, surprised laugh. 

“Where are we?” Peter asked.

“Still in the chem classroom,” Duke whispered. 

Peter’s vision was coming more into focus now, and he could feel the uncomfortable floor pressing into his tailbone. “Fuck, Jason can’t afford a ransom,” he whined. 

Steph giggled softly. “Sure he can, he’s a crime lord.”

“Well don’t let them know,” Peter said, lucidity slowly coming upon him. 

“What are you whispering about?!” one of the voices from before demanded. 

“Nothing, sir.” Tim replied.

“That’s what I thought,” he sneered. “Fucking rich kids, you think you own the world, don’t you?”

“Take Parker!” Eddie shouted. “He’s the alien!”

“Seriously, Eddie?” one of the students (Grace, Peter remembered) said. “This shit again?”

Kidnapper Number Two turned to Eddie. “An alien, huh? Like from space?”

Eddie nodded. 

“Which one is he?” Kidnapper Number Two asked.

Eddie was shaking now, and Peter was ready to fucking murder. “He’s the brunette in the corner with the Wayne’s and Steph.”

Peter felt the gaze of every single person in the room on him, and Peter was mentally chanting for Eddie to shut the fuck up . 

“He’s not a fucking alien,” Steph snarled. “Eddie is just a crackpot.”

“Even so,” Kidnapper Two mused, “I’ll have to see if we have further use for you, Parker.”

The four vigilantes waited for their captor to walk away again, which he did. 

“What are we going to do?” Peter breathed.

“Do you still have your phone in your back pocket?” Tim asked, just as quietly as Peter.

Peter nodded. 

“Text three of any letter to Jason.”

Peter felt carefully and pulled out his phone, waited until the three captors weren’t looking before carefully maneuvering his hands around till they were in front. Steph and Tim subtly adjusted around so they were blocking the view of Peter as best as they could, and Peter quickly typed out the three letters and hit send. Kidnapper Number One turned just then, snarling when he saw the device in Peter’s hands. Peter was pulled up roughly by his forearms before being shoved towards Kidnappers Two and Three. 

“Caught ‘the alien’ texting someone.”

The two men turned on Peter, whose Spidey Sense was unhelpfully going nuts. A fist landed solidly in Peter’s gut, making Peter let out a pain-filled grunt. Peter heard Tim, Duke, and Steph gasp almost in unison as another first cracked across his jaw. Peter was on the floor of the classroom now, and a steel-toed boot hit a bruise on his ribs that Peter had been given during patrol the night prior. 

“That’s enough,” Kidnapper Three demanded. “We won’t get as good of a payday if he’s barely breathing. Put him back with the others, but keep an eye on him.”

Kidnappers One and Two did as they were told, and Peter was held in place as his hands were untied, then re-tied back behind his back. He was dragged over and sat back down next to his friends. Tim and Steph were looking at Peter with wide eyes, and Peter was sure Duke would be doing the same thing, if he wasn’t facing away from Peter. Peter was finding it hard to breathe, but was managing. Come on, Jason.

Right on time, a menacing figure burst into the room, quickly taking down the three kidnappers and tying them up with their own ropes. Red Hood immediately started to cut the kids free, slowly making his way over to Peter, Steph, Tim, and Duke. Finally, they were all cut loose and rubbing at the angry skin the rough rope left behind. 

“Red Hood, Peter is injured. Think you can take him to a hospital for us?” Duke asked, knowing full well where Jason would take Peter but keeping up appearances.

Jason nodded wordlessly and scooped up Peter, adjusting him carefully when Peter let out a pained hiss. 

“No hospitals,” Peter said automatically. He cringed a bit, realizing this would not help with the alien accusations in the slightest.

“Let the rest of the faculty know you’re safe and call the cops,” Jason instructed the teens, his voice distorted slightly by the helmet. 

The kids nodded and wordlessly watched Jason take Peter out the classroom door. Teachers were crowded around the door, gasping when they saw the state of one of their students. Professor Macpherson marched into the chemistry classroom, and Peter managed a smile when he heard Kidnapper Number Two let out a pained cry. Jason chuckled wryly. “Come on, kid. Let’s get you some help.”

The drive was long and bumpy, and Peter was trying not to inhale too much, since every breath came with a sharp stab of pain. They made it to the Batcave before long, and Alfred was already waiting with some medical equipment. Alfred patched Peter as best as he could, and then he and Jason were riding home. Peter was pretty tired and fell asleep on the couch almost as soon as Jason helped him sit down on it.

Peter woke (much more pleasantly this time, he would like to note) to the smell of cooking tacos and quiet chatter. Peter groaned, trying and failing to push himself into a sitting position, wincing as his ribs screamed at him. 

“Hey, easy there,” Duke said, gently helping Peter. 

Peter blinked in surprise, which grew exponentially as he saw Steph and Tim helping Jason in the kitchen of the small apartment, while Cass sat at the kitchen table, looking at something on her phone. “You’re here?” Peter asked, hating how pathetically happy his voice sounded.

At the sound of his voice, Tim dropped everything and practically ran to Peter’s side, with Steph not far behind him. Cass trailed after them, trying to give Peter a little space, which he definitely appreciated.

“Yeah, man, of course. We persuaded Alfred to give us Jason’s address, then came here as soon as we could. We’ve been here for a while now, annoying the hell out of Jason.” Duke’s smile was bright and mischievous as he sat next to Peter on the couch, and Peter was infinitely grateful for his friends. 

“What happened to the people who—?”

“The cops showed up a couple of minutes after you left and took them. Then school was cancelled for the day, since they’re trying to figure out how they got in in the first place,” Steph explained.

Peter pumped a fist. “Yes! God , I need more sleep.”

“Dude, do I feel you there,” Steph commiserated, sitting on the ground so Tim could have the other spot on the couch. “So, Jason’s making tacos for dinner, and then we’re going to watch The Real Housewives of Gotham.”  

Tim stood up, pressing a kiss to Peter’s head carefully. “You feeling any better? You were out for a couple of hours.”

Was he? Peter did a mental checklist, happy to find that he was no longer feeling like he was going to throw up and that it didn’t hurt as badly to breathe. “Yeah, actually. Must be the tacos. Even without eating them, my proximity to them makes everything ten times better,” Peter joked.

Duke rolled his eyes. “The tacos, right. Not your best friend in the whole world?”

Peter beamed. “I’m your best friend? You’re my best friend!”

Cass giggled, making Peter laugh a little as well, which he immediately regretted, inhaling sharply. She cringed in sympathy, ruffling Peter’s hair. “Thanks, Cass.”

She nodded and sat down on the floor next to Peter’s legs, leaning against his knee lightly. 

“I thought I was your best friend,” Steph pouted. 

“Excuse you, what about me?” Tim whined. 

“You’re the boy toy, that’s an entirely different category,” Duke argued. 

“Boy toy?!” Tim settled on the couch next to Duke. “How dare you.”

“We all know you’re the family slut,” Steph teased, sitting next to Cass. 

“Um, excuse you, Dick Grayson is in this family, need I remind you?” Tim contended.

Jason slowly padded over to the group, peering down at Peter. “Your friends are fucking insane, you know.”

Peter grinned up at him cheerily. “I know, aren’t they great?”

Jason rolled his eyes fondly. “Glad to see you’re okay, kid. And that you have these crazy bitches to help keep an eye on you.”

Peter scoffed. “‘Keep an eye on me,’ yeah right! I’m keeping an eye on them !”

“We’re not the ones who let Edison Bright believe you’re an alien,” Duke reminded him. 

Peter groaned, placing his head in his hands. “Fuck, and he let the kidnappers know!”

Peter’s Spidey Sense kicked in the tiniest bit as it informed Peter that every other person in the room was incredibly dangerous. 

“That’s right, he did, didn’t he?” Tim mused, his sickly sweet. 

“I swear to god, that piece of shit is dead the next time I see him,” Steph snarled. 

“Here, here,” Duke added.

Jason shook his head and walked back over to the kitchen, scraping the tomatoes Tim had been dicing into a bowl, which he put on the table with the rest of the prepared food. 

“Eat now, plot murder later,” Jason instructed. He froze, blinking a couple times before his face twisted to look like he had eaten something sour. “Fuck, you guys are turning me into a responsible adult, stop that. Eat before the food gets cold, you monsters.”

Peter nodded, moving to get up, only for several pairs of hands to push him back down onto the illegally comfy couch. ‘Stay,’ Cass signed with a raised eyebrow. 

Peter nodded and did so, waiting patiently as the group got their food and moved back to their previous positions on the couch. Tim placed the extra plate he had loaded up for Peter in his lap as Jason settled down on the floor next to Steph and Cass. Jason turned on the TV and the group started to eat while watching women bitch at each other. Peter leaned into the touch of his friends —of his family— with a satisfied smile.