Webs in the Shadows

Peter walked into the shelter, greeted by a front desk with a bored looking girl behind it, scrolling through her phone. When she heard the door close behind Peter, she looked up from said phone, slightly more tense. 

The people from this city were definitely more on edge than what he was used to. At F.E.A.S.T, you were always greeted with a welcoming smile. Sure, there was a bat under the front desk for safety reasons, but they were friendly, not stupid. 

As Peter walked forward towards the blonde girl, she stopped slouching in her chair and took out a metal bat (surprise surprise) from behind the desk. 

Peter pursed his lips at the clear warning, but didn’t hold it against her. It was probably the middle of the night now and some random guy was walking into her place of work, looking worse for wear with bruises and cuts all over his face. 

He tried giving a smile, but the girl just raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you?”

“Um, yeah, Red Hood just dropped me off here, said this was one of the good shelters..”

The blonde didn’t relax at this and kept her grip on the bat tight, but still answered him in the affirmative. 

“Hm, well, you’re in luck, we still have some beds available,” she searched for something under the desk again, Peter just hoped it wasn’t another weapon to flaunt, “here’s a backpack. It has your essentials: toothbrush, toothpaste, clothes, soap, warm blanket, gloves and a hoodie cause it's pretty much winter now. There’s also some non-perishables in there, water and a bit of money. We have a cafeteria, but the backpack is for when you have to leave again, ‘cause, unfortunately, you can’t stay here forever.”

He took the backpack from her with a mumbled “thank you” and slung it over his shoulder. He was homeless before with Aunt May after Uncle Ben died. 

He never thought he’d have to go through it again, this time, alone. The blonde didn’t seem to notice his melancholy, or if she did, she ignored it for his sake.

“The cafeteria serves breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is at 7:30 am, dinner's at 6 pm and both last an hour. If you miss either of those, you could always ask the kitchen staff if there are leftovers. It’s a fifty-fifty chance, but always worth asking. There is a time limit to stay here, you can stay up to three days, then you’ll have to leave for, at least, 24 hours. You can stay at any other Wayne Shelter after the three days here, this time limit is not to make things harder for you, just to give a chance to others to have a bed.”

Peter nodded along, finding the three day limit pretty good for a shelter and he was so glad he would get food since he hadn’t eaten in days. 

“We have a few rules, of course, no drugs nor alcohol in the building, no violence either. If we find substances on you or you participate in a fight, you will be banned from the shelter. Mmh, what else…oh, yeah, fair warning, we are not liable for anything stolen, so keep your stuff close to you because some people do sometimes get desperate.”

The girl got up and walked around the desk, still holding the bat, now loosely. 

“Follow me,” She instructed and walked away, deeper into the building. He did as he was told and listened as she continued to talk, swinging the bat slightly as she walked. 

“We have a nurse on staff at all times, we also have security and staff members here all the time, in case you need something. My name’s Steph, I'm mostly here during the day, but I'm covering for someone tonight.”

“I’m Peter, nice to meet you.”

She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled, Peter thought she looked really pretty when she smiled, “you’re polite, huh…Where you from?”

Peter laughed and lifted an eyebrow, “What, are the people from Gotham not polite?”

“No, no, some are. But you have a different accent and don’t have the gothamite..tension to you. At least, not yet. So are you from Metropolis or…?”

Metropolis. Another city he knew wasn’t a part of his universe. And another weird ass name. Why call a city..city? It just felt extremely redundant and awkward. But whatever, to each their own.

“Nah, I’m from Queens. Didn’t think I had much of an accent.”

“You do, but it’s cute.” she told him this in an absolutely nonchalant way which only made him blush and look away. 

Thankfully, they reached their destination before he could start being an awkward mess. It was kind of weird, he had a girlfriend a few hours ago and now she didn’t even know he existed and he may as well not exist since he was now in a whole other universe. 

He knew it meant he was single now, but it hurt to even think about it. He’ll have to move on soon, he couldn’t just be a sad loner forever. But he’ll just put that thought on hold for now. 

“So this top bunk is open for ya, if you need anything in the next few hours, I’ll be here. Another volunteer, Carlos, will be here in the morning.”

She was whispering now, careful to not wake anyone up since they were now surrounded by bunk beds filled with people. 

He smiled at her and thanked her, watching as she walked away before slowly and silently getting on the top bunk. There was a middle aged woman on the bottom and he didn’t want to wake her. 

Once he was at the top, he sat with his legs crossed and opened the backpack. He checked what he had and made sure to keep them in mind. 

Canned peaches and ravioli, 3 bottles of water, the blanket and gloves Steph had mentioned, a blue hoodie with some sort of red and yellow S symbol on the front, sweatpants, boxers, socks, some hygiene products and, the most surprising item, 100 bucks. 

Steph said there would be some money in here, Peter thought she meant like 20 dollars. Who the hell had the money to fund this place and give away 100 bucks in every backpack? Well, Tony probably could’ve..

He shook his head, returning his thoughts back to the bag. He’d have to check what he had at the end of every day so he knew what to get more of and to know if anyone had actually taken anything without him noticing. It wasn’t likely, but it was better to keep an inventory of his stuff. 

Once he was done checking his items, he remembered the suit hanging out of his pocket and pulled it out. He looked down at it for a moment, eyebrows furrowed as thoughts swirled in his head.

The suit was probably glitching out because of Peter’s travels to a new dimension. He didn’t even have his mask anymore since he lost it in the last battle in the Statue of Liberty. 

How could he continue to be Spider-man if he didn’t have a complete suit and the privilege of a full lab for his web fluid? At least, he and the other Parkers had the forethought to stock up on that before that last battle. 

He supposed he could make a new suit like his very first one, but that didn’t really solve the web fluid situation. He’d need the supplies from a lab or..a chemistry class. 

It would be exactly like when he first started out. Except, this time, a billionaire hero wasn't going to set his sights on him and help him through it. 

Before he could go down that particular spiral, he decided he needed some much deserved sleep before thinking of what to do next. He stuffed his suit in his new backpack and laid down onto the surprisingly comfortable mattress. 

It took a few minutes, but sleep finally found him.

~ ~ ~

Jason sat on the edge of the same roof he met Peter on. The kid was still on his mind, his interest certainly peaked from their interaction. He was probably around 16, given his small stature, but he had obviously already been through too much. 

Jason was quickly reminded that Peter hadn’t even been surprised by his sudden presence on the roof, as if he had felt him dropping in. 

He went through a few theories in his head, hoping he wasn’t right about any of them since they all entertained the idea of Peter being an abused kid who ran away or him being a meta. The former certainly would explain the cuts and bruises Jason noticed on his face and hands. 

Before he could continue down that road, he felt that distinct feeling of being watched making his shoulders tense. There were few people who would try to sneak up on him and he just knew who this one was. 

“What do you want?”

“What? Can’t a guy come see his little brother?”

Jason rolled his eyes at that, keeping his gaze on the buildings in front of him. He knew Dick was walking towards him even before he saw the familiar blue and black of his suit in his peripheral. 

“This seat taken?” the idiot pointed at the spot next to him and Jason looked over at him, trying to convey his deadpan expression through his mask. 

“I’ll take that as a no.” 

Jason turned his attention to the streets below, hoping Dick would take the hint and leave him be. But who was he kidding? It’s Dick. 

The vigilante sat next to him and sighed. There was a silence that followed, one Jason found surprising. Usually, he couldn’t get this dumbass to shut up. 

Out of pure curiosity (totally not ‘cause he cares or anything), he looked over at him from the corner of his eye. Dick wasn’t looking at him, he was facing forward, a thoughtful look on his face and his shoulders sagged slightly. 

He knew this was about to turn into a heartfelt discussion before Dick even opened his mouth. Jason sighed, waiting for the interaction he knew was coming and he did not want to have. 

“He means well, you know.” his voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

It just made Jason angry. His only reaction to this ridiculous statement was a scoff as he looked away. 

“Jason, he cares about you, he always did, even if he’s been kind of bad at showing it ever since we were kids.”

Jason smiled bitterly and turned to him with disbelieving eyes. 

“Sure, he cares, just not enough to do what needed to be done a long fucking time ago, right?”

Dick sighed as if Jason was the unreasonable one. From where he was standing, the only unreasonable thing he was doing was entertaining this conversation. 

“He has his rules, Jason, you can’t fault him for sticking to them.” Dick seemed to think on his own words, like he wasn’t sure if he was convincing Jason or himself, or maybe Jason was just seeing things he hoped were there. 

“Actually, Dick, I can. Especially since that rule only ends up hurting more people than helping anyone who deserves it. But of course, you’re defending him. Always by his side, huh?”

Jason just couldn’t sit there anymore, listening to this bullshit. He stood from the ledge, ready to shoot his grappling hook and get the fuck out of this conversation. Dick got to his feet and held Jason’s arm, stopping any plans of leaving. 

“No, Jason, that’s not it. You’re my brother, of course I’ll always be by your side”

“Then why do you still stand by him after what he failed to do for me?" 

“It’s not that simple, I-”

“WHY?”

“You don’t understand, Jason, it’s not for HIM.”

Jason cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Dick sighed and let go of his arm. Jason didn’t make a move to leave. 

“It’s for them. I needed to be there for them, Jason. I had to be the person…that we didn’t get to have.”

Jason knew what he meant, of course he knew. But he let him continue anyway, his shoulders falling and a lump forming in his throat. 

“Bruce was always good at the training part. But when it came to being emotionally present for the kids he brought in…we both know he struggled with it. He cares, we all know that. And we care about him. I just…I had to be there for them when he wasn’t able to be.”

Dick was looking at him, his eyes begging for him to understand. Jason was struggling to stay mad at him…his older brother. His brother who was just doing for them what he did for Jason. 

“That’s…not fair.”

His voice cracked as he looked away. Why couldn’t he just not care? Why couldn’t he just be angry at this idiot?

“Come home, Jason.” Dick placed his hand on Jason’s shoulder, squeezing it slightly. Jason closed his eyes and let himself imagine for just a second. 

Going back home, being welcomed in, eating Alfred’s food. Laughing and smiling with the other siblings, some he doesn’t even know that well. He’d get to know them. He’d get to be a big brother to them. He might even get to be happy. 

But when he opened his eyes, a grim thing called reality washed over him and he looked over at Dick. His older brother’s face fell, the hope he had held there melting away. He knew his answer. But just in case, he had to make it clear. 

“I can’t.”

“Why, Jason? Because of the killing crime boss thing? I’m sure we can get past it. It’ll be awkward at first, sure, but you can come back.”

Dick was obviously trying to lighten the mood by downplaying it, but Jason just took a step back, letting Dick’s hand fall from his shoulder. He pursed his lips and shook his head. 

“Yeah, ‘cause of the killing crime boss thing, Dick. They’ll ask me to stop. But I can’t stop, the only reason crime alley isn’t as bad and kids aren’t fucking dying of overdoses is because I’m pulling the fucking strings.”

Dick nodded slightly, looking chastised, but Jason kept going, driving the point home.

“And, fine, maybe I agree to stop killing just to appease them. But once I see that fucking clown, he’ll be getting what’s coming for him. And Bruce will have to kill me if he wants to stop me.”

Before Dick could even get an answer out, Red Hood was grappling himself off the roof.

~ ~ ~

Peter was startled by his spider sense, clutching his backpack on instinct as some homeless dude tried to steal it in his sleep.

The guy, wide pupils and skittish, ran off when he realized he couldn’t steal the damn thing. Peter huffed, sitting up in his top bunk and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Steph definitely wasn’t kidding…

You know that one moment of bliss you get in the morning where the events of the day before don’t matter and all is well? Yeah, Peter didn’t get a fucking second of that and now he hated life just a little bit more. 

He swung his legs off the bed, ready to jump down when he suddenly heard a yelp. He cursed as he quickly got to the floor and checked the lady that was on the bottom bunk. 

“Are you alright? Did I hit you? I’m so sorry.” he quickly apologized, looking at the woman who was rubbing a spot on her forehead and glaring at him. 

“Just fucking watch it, kid.” she spat at him, getting up and not-so-accidentally shoving his shoulder as she walked past him. 

He pursed his lips, already dreading the day. Especially if everyone would be like that. Seriously, was everyone in Gotham so damn crabby all the time?

He made his way to the cafeteria with heavy feet, his stomach churning at the thought of having to deal with what his next steps were going to be. 

He walked into the cafeteria, noticing the man standing guard right outside of the doors. Steph had mentioned security last night so he wasn’t surprised by it, he just quickly went to where the food was being served.

He was absolutely starving so he was glad to see a good assortment of protein. He took a tray and got in line, asking the lady behind the counter to add a good amount of eggs, bacon and even a few sausages to his plate. He thanked her with a smile and walked off, noticing a fruit bowl and taking a green apple from it before sitting down at an empty table. 

As he hoovered down his food, he thought of what he would do once he was done. He’d have to search everything relevant about this universe, especially this city, what rogues Red Hood was talking about, the bats and the birds, the name Wayne and anything else he could find. 

To do that, he’d have to find the nearest library and hope that they had computers.

When he finished his food, he left the cafeteria, almost bumping into a man carrying one too many boxes. The man poked his head around the boxes, probably trying to see if he had hurt anyone. 

“Oh, sorry, kid." 

Peter smiled, this guy was probably the first person to be nice to him today. He was a middle aged guy with tanned skin and a stubble. 

“You’re fine, want me to help you with those?”

Peter pointed at the stacked boxes and the man looked at him with raised eyebrows for a moment before nodding.

“Sure, thank you.”

Peter took two boxes off of him and started following the man, who he assumed was another volunteer. 

“Haven’t seen you around, you new to town?”

“Yeah, just got here yesterday. I’m Peter.”

He put the boxes down where the man directed him to and watched as the man stuck his hand out to him. Peter shook it, noting the firm grip. 

“Carlos. I volunteer here when I can so you’ll probably see me often. If you need anything, I’ll be around.”

Peter jumped on the opportunity of getting the information he needed from someone reliable.

“Actually, if you have a second, I need to get to a library with a computer and I have no idea where the closest one is.”

“Oh, of course, come with me.”

He walked with Carlos, looking over at him and taking him in. He looked like a pretty strong dude, someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. 

“You’re gonna have to go to the Bowery, but it’s not that far from here. I would tell you to go to Somerset, but I’m guessing you don’t have a bus or subway pass since you just got here last night?”

Peter shook his head to confirm, stopping when Carlos did, realizing they were now at the front desk. Carlos picked something off of it and handed it to Peter. He looked down at the pamphlet and opened it.

“It’s a map of the city and then all three parts separately in more detail. The library is right..there.”

The older man pointed to a spot on the map and Peter made sure to keep a mental note of it as he studied the rest of the pamphlet. He thanked Carlos who just clapped him on the shoulder and walked away. 

The city was pretty interesting. Divided into three islands of some sort and he was currently on the first one, Burnley. He’d have to look at it more closely later, right now, he needed to get to the library. 

~ ~ ~

It took him about 25 minutes, a few wrong turns and a very unhelpful vandalized street sign to get to the library. He also had to stop a few minutes in to take the blue hoodie out of his backpack and put it on. Why the hell was Gotham so cold in November?

He walked in, looking around and absolutely itching to start his research. He immediately headed towards the service desk which had a red headed woman behind it. She smiled up at him as he approached. 

Maybe not everyone in Gotham was irritable then. Was just his luck this morning.

“Hey, how can I help you?”

“Hi, I was just wondering where your computers were?”

“They’re on the second floor, the cubicle looking things.”

He thanked her and almost started to walk away before she stopped him.

“Do you have a library card?”

He closed his eyes, not having even thought about that. He couldn’t even make one because he didn’t technically exist here…unless there was another Peter Parker in this universe. Well, that was definitely added to the list of things to look up. 

He turned back and shook his head with a sheepish smile, the redhead grinned, as if she already knew the answer.

“That’s ok, you can either make one or use the guest login.”

“I’ll go with the guest login for now.”

She nodded and started writing the information on a piece of paper which she handed to him. 

“I’m Barbara, by the way. If you have any questions, I'll be glad to help.”

He thanked her again and actually walked away this time, up the stairs. He passed a few bookshelves before the space opened up into a comfy reading nook. He took a turn and found the computers. 

He sat at the empty one at the far corner and put in the information needed and dove into the research. 

First, the rogues. 

Peter went through a list, his eyes widening at how long it really was. But from what he could understand, there were a few main rogues and then some secondary ones. 

Among the main ones were; 

Bane, big guy on very effective steroids;

Clayface, literally a guy made of clay;

Killer Croc, a sewer-dwelling crocodile man which eerily reminded Peter of the reptilian doctor he fought and helped just the day before;

The Penguin, gang leader and mastermind with a fascination with trick umbrellas (??);

Scarecrow, a psycho who uses something called fear-gas on people;

And, finally, the Joker, a clown obsessed with a vigilante called Batman and who uses Joker Toxin during his crimes. That explained the three clowns from last night…

For the secondary rogues, there were;

The Riddler; just a guy who loves riddles and…will kill you if you get it wrong. Great, lovely. 

Firefly; a pyromaniac with arsonist gadgets. 

And Deadshot; mercenary, don't get on his radar and if you see his crimes, no you didn't. 

His eyes then skimmed over the rest of them until his eyes zeroed in on a name he recognized. 

Red Hood. Crime Lord. 

He stared at the words for a long moment, his ears ringing and his breathing picking up. 

How the hell couldn’t he tell that he was with a rogue? He even thought he was a hero before the whole threat with a gun incident. But even then, he just thought he was some anti-hero. 

But how could he have known? The guy was..kind and helped him. He even said he took care of things in Crime Alley. He obviously wasn’t some psychopath. 

After clicking on the link and reading more about him, he realized that, yes, he was a crime boss, but apparently had morals. At least, that was what the people deemed. 

Gothamites didn’t seem scared of Red Hood and appreciated the fact that crime had gone down slightly ever since he got into power. Peter even read that he made sure no one dealt to kids. 

“You alright?”

He whipped his head around to Barbara and opened his mouth to speak when he noticed that she was in a wheelchair. He hadn’t seen it before and, for a second, he wondered how she got on the second floor, but quickly realized there was probably an elevator.

“Um, yeah. Just found out something a bit surprising.”

Her eyes seemed to instinctively look over at his screen and she raised an eyebrow. 

“You’re looking up the rogues?”

“Yeah, I just got to Gotham and realized I kinda need a crash course.”

He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. She laughed with him and nodded in understanding. 

“Out of curiosity, why’d you leave Metropolis to come here?”

Peter furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head. He hadn’t said he was from Metropolis.

“I’m not from Metropolis.” he told her, using it as an excuse not to answer her question. 

“Oh- sorry, I just assumed ‘cause of the Superman hoodie.”

He looked down at his donated hoodie in confusion and back up at the redhead. 

“Um..Who?”

She laughed, “I’ll leave you to the research, you need it.”

He smiled and watched her leave before turning back to the screen. He decided to search the vigilantes next. 

With the amount of rogues in the city, he wasn’t surprised with how many vigilantes there were. The bats and the birds were prominent figures, especially Batman. 

After scrolling for a while, he knew the vigilante’s names, some facts about them and what their suits looked like. The only day-time hero was a guy named Signal. He was the only meta, which Peter learned was what this universe called enhanced individuals.  

He also found out that metas weren’t usually allowed in Gotham as some sort of unspoken Batman rule and that Signal was an exception for whatever reason. At least, he knew he’d have to try to hide his abilities as much as he could when he went back to being Spider-man. 

He ended up looking up other heroes surrounding Gotham, like Nightwing and Superman. He almost got side tracked when he saw the word Kryptonian, but realized he wouldn’t have to deal with it anyway and went back to his research list. 

Next, Wayne. 

Bruce Wayne and Wayne enterprises were the first things to pop up. Bruce was the CEO of Wayne enterprises which had many branches, the most notable being Security and Tech. 

“Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist…sounds familiar.” Peter whispered to himself as he scrolled through an article about the guy. 

He looked at the time on the computer when he was done, realizing he had been there for longer than he thought, it was now 4:30 pm. He also realized the date in the corner of the screen was way wrong. December 11th? 

He thought back to how cold it was and a moment from last night resurfaced. Steph had said it was practically winter now, he had just been in his own head..

He quickly moved onto the next thing, deciding that this time jump shouldn’t be much of a surprise since he did travel universes. He needed to get out of here and back at the shelter in time for dinner anyway, he didn’t have time to think about this. 

He looked up his own name, taking a deep breath as he watched a few articles pop up. He wasn’t the only Peter Parker. 

One quick read through of an article informed him that the Peter Parker from this universe went with his parents on a research trip and the plane never landed. It was also never found. They disappeared without a trace. 

Tragic and interesting, but Peter didn’t have time to dig into it, he had to do the next step.

He quickly looked around the area, happy to find it completely empty. He got comfortable in his seat and got to work.

He needed to find a good high school he could get himself into, it’ll be easier for when he eventually runs out of web fluid. 

One swift search revealed Gotham Prep Academy and he smiled when he read that their chemistry class was as good as you could get in an academic setting. He knew it would almost be like Midtown so it was perfect. 

Next, a school that he would transfer from. Peter decided to go with a close city and, as much as he hated the name, Metropolis would have to do. 

He made quick work of hacking into Metropolis High’s records. It was laughably easy, but he was sure Ned would be able to do it in half the time. 

He made himself a former student at the school with the same grades he had at Midtown. His guardian? Tony Stark (because yes). He had previously made sure Tony Stark didn’t exist in this universe, of course. 

He was glad he was an A+ student, it made the next stage not as suspicious. 

With a few clicks, Metropolis High had now recommended Peter Parker for the Wayne scholarship at Gotham Academy a week ago. 

Now all he had to do was hack into Gotham Prep and make himself accepted into the scholarship. It was a tad bit harder than Metropolis High, but it still only took him a few minutes. 

He made it so he got an 88% on the obligatory scholarship test, added a few transcript infos and bam, he was now starting at Gotham Prep Academy in three days. 

He smirked, erasing any traces and logging out. It was now around 5:30 so he could take his time walking back to the shelter and still get there in time for the start of dinner. 

He waved at Barbara as he left the library, noting the fact it was getting dark now and the cold was worse than it was in the morning.

Just as he stepped down the stairs leading down to the sidewalk, a car sped past and he watched it go. It was sleek and black with heavily tinted windows. He had never seen any design quite like it. It looked pretty damn cool.

It turned a corner and disappeared from his line of view, making Peter sigh and continue on his way to what Peter would be calling home for the next two days.