Chapter 1: Say Goodbye To Our Home and Hello To A New Life
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"Use it, do the spell again. But this time make everyone forget who Peter Parker is! This is my fault that they're here!" Peter shouted over the roaring sound of reality ripping.
"If I do this, you cannot stay here in this world, Peter. It's too big of a risk to keep you here!" Dr. Strange's voice rang out. Peter nodded his head in acceptance. He was the one who caused this, so he would be the one to face the consequences.
"No!" Harley yelled through the comms. The telltale sound of the repulsors in his suit were the only warning that Harley was flying up towards the top of the Statue of Liberty before he landed not so gracefully beside Peter.
Iron Lad's faceplate retracted as he stared Peter down with the most heart broken expression.
"I said no. If you're going, I'm going with you." Harley stated as he stared, unblinking, at Peter.
Peter shook his head vehemently. "No Harley, not this time. This is my mistake. You can't come with me this time." Peter's voice broke as he spoke. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he looked at his best friend.
His best friend, who became friends with him and stuck by him before they even knew they had a connection through Tony.
God, Tony.
Peter had fucked up, he fucked up so bad. If he could go back in time and take back every decision over the past few months, he would.
Harley looked into his eyes and Peter watched as his eyes hardened with his resolve.
"You're not leaving Peter," Harley's voice cracked before he took a deep breath in.
"Not without me." He stated, voice so firm, so certain. It hurt Peter to look at his best friend, to know that he was the cause of Harley's pain.
"Peter," Dr. Strange's voice pierced the air. Both teenagers looked up towards the sorcerer. "I can manage to send you both away. It would be safer for you if I sent two instead of one, but that choice is yours. But you have to be absolutely certain you want to make this decision. Once this is done, it cannot be undone. If someone does go with you, choose wisely. I can only send two at most."
Peter looked back towards Harley's face. His friend's face had desperation written all across it.
"I can't ask you to leave your sister or you mom for me, Harley." Peter spoke, his voice hoarse.
"You don't have to ask me to go with you Peter. Abbi and my Ma will be fine without me- "
"If you go with him, Harley, I will have to erase you as well. I cannot have one be forgotten while the other that's attached to him is remembered." Doctor Strange cut in.
Harley nodded at the same time Peter shook his head. He had already ruined enough peoples lives. He couldn't add erasing Harley from memory to his long list of mistakes.
"Peter, please. Let me go with you. My Ma will take care of Abbi, so will Pepper, they'll help each other. But I can't let you be cast off to another universe alone." Harley couldn't have been more desperate, and Peter felt the tears that were filling his eyes finally fall.
Peter hesitated for a moment as tears cascaded down his face before he finally nodded his head. He knew Harley well enough to know that he would force Doctor Strange's hand if he had to. He would never leave Peter, just as Peter would never leave him if he could help it.
Peter had never stopped Harley from helping him before. What with him finding out he was Spider-Man not long after meeting him at a certain hero's funeral, and then becoming Iron Lad after finding the gift Tony had left him (though sometimes he preferred being the eyes and ears, it depended on the mission). Neither leaving the other behind.
The whooshing sound of a portal opened behind both boys. One behind Peter's back, and one behind Harley's.
"Gather whatever necessities you need and then say your goodbyes. I can hold the rifts together long enough for you to gather what you need. You have three minutes." Strange instructed. The two teens looked at each other before nodding and stepped into their own respective portals.
Peter went through the portal and realized that he was sent into his and May's old apartment. Peter choked down a sob as he raced through his once home.
He grabbed a backpack and shoved his Stark phone, charger for said phone, a few pairs of clothes, a few USB sticks that held information that should not be left lying around, and whatever canned food was left in the apartment, Aunt Natasha's (as she insisted on being called) words ringing through his mind.
Shelter, water, food. Remember those three things and that's your best bet for survival, little spider. She told him after a hard training session.
Stop. He commanded his mind, there was no time to be thinking about people he's lost.
With barely any time to spare, he threw the backpack over his shoulders and jumped back through the portal as Harley came running back through his own, a backpack of his own on his shoulders. Peter could see Abbi and Harley's mom behind the teenager, hugging each other as tears ran down their faces.
Peter was about to try and convince Harley to stay again, but Harley just fixed him with a look that said "Don't."
Peter wrapped an arm around Harley's waist before hoisting him off the ground and jumping down towards their friends.
He looked into the other Peters' eyes and rushed forward to hug them, careful of their injuries.
"I'm sorry!" Peter cried, Peter Three's arm, that wasn't supporting Peter Two, wrapped around him in a way that let Peter know he heard Doctor Strange's solution to the rifts.
"Don't be," Peter Two mumbled into Peter's hair as he wrapped his own arm around Peter.
"Peter Three was right. Even if we didn't know each other long, I do love both of you. We're brothers, and don't you forget that." Peter Two's voice didn't waver, and it only made Peter cry harder.
Peter Three shushed him and kept saying, "It's alright, it's okay," before moving back away from him with Peter Two and patting him on the back. Peter Two motioned to where MJ and Ned were standing with Harley. Peter shot a web out and swung up towards them.
Both MJ and Ned were crying, most likely from Harley telling them their situation. Their faces were littered with unwanted acceptance.
Peter brought them both into a hug.
"Don't worry about us, okay? Just look after yourselves. You won't even know we're gone." Peter's voice cracked. MJ and Ned cried into his shoulders and held him tight. After a few moments, he finally stepped back.
He turned around to look at Harley, who was standing behind him, and tried to convince him one last time to stay.
"Harley, you don't have to go. You can stay here, where it's safe. With your mom and your sister, and Ned, and MJ. I can handle being on my own."
It didn't seem to matter to Harley what Peter said. He stood strong and didn't budge.
"I told you, I'm not going to leave you. You've been on your own long enough." Peter had no idea what Harley meant by, "you've been on your own long enough." But time has seemingly run out for them as Doctor Strange started the spell.
"Peter! Harley!" Doctor Strange called out. Said boys looked in the direction of the voice and then made their way up the Statue towards the man. Once Strange was sure he had their attention, he spoke.
"Don't worry about running into different versions of yourselves. What you both need to worry about is what the multiverse will do to you when you arrive. Considering the fact that I'm anchoring you down in that universe. You will belong to that universe instead of our own. There will be a few changes, but nothing too drastic. Do you both understand that?" The man asked. Both boys nodded.
Peter could see orange like ropes of magic leave Strange's hands and stitch reality back together. A tingly feeling made itself known in his hand. A sensation not unlike one from so long ago, but at the same time, it was more peaceful. He looked down to see his hand dissipating into gold particles.
Harley, Peter Two, and Peter Three weren't in much better states.
Harley looked down at Peter with a teary-eyed smile as they both felt the all-consuming sensation of their bodies began to dissipate completely.
"Promise to not leave?" Harley asked. Each word came out shaky, a stark contrast to the strength his voice held just moments ago.
Peter nodded. "Promise," and he would keep that promise for as long as he possibly could.
"Only death could rip us apart." Peter spoke, now it was his turn to have the strength in his voice.
Peter could see the slight hint of Harley's regular smirk before he fully dissipated. Peter closed his eyes when he suddenly heard someone shout his name, or something close to it.
"-eter! 'Ime placement! -onths!" He could hear Doctor Strange shout. But the roaring of the universe trying to meld itself back together and his own body and soul leaving it was too strong to hear over it.
Peter then consequently couldn't figure out what the doctor said before he himself followed Harley shortly after into a gold oblivion.
Notes:
If yall got a good place to start in the Batman comics pls tell me! I tried doing some research on where a good place to start would be.
Buuut I nearly just had a panic attack cuz it was either giving no answers or over 20 different options and my brain didn't like being overwhelmed like that.
Chapter 2: A World That Is Not Our Own
Summary:
Tw: vomiting (even if it's just a few sentences)
My sis has the phobia of throwing up so I'm always careful and make sure there is trigger warnings for anything and everything.
Notes:
Made a few mistakes, so you might want to read the ages again!
Also, I really hope it doesn't seem rushed.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
He was floating.
Through what he doesn't know. The clouds, maybe?
It was peaceful, almost. If he just let himself sink, he would be able to float like this forever... Sink?
Sink.... he wasn't floating, he realized all of sudden.
He wasn't floating at all. He was sinking, drowning.
Peter wrenched his eyes open as he opened his mouth to breathe.
Big mistake.
Whatever liquid he breathed in burned. Not only did it burn his throat, but his eyes too. Peter's body was quick to remind him that he was running out of air as it trembled.
With a horrifying and gratifying awareness of his situation. He learned that he was at the bottom of a lake, pool, tank, whatever. All Peter knew was that the green liquid surrounding him burned and that he could use the ground beneath him to push himself out of it.
Peter swam to the best of his ability to reach the top of the green liquid. As soon as his head popped up, his eyes began to search for anything that his hands could find purchase on.
He swam with all his might once he saw a rocky ledge connected to a jagged wall.
Just as Peter pulled himself up onto the ledge was the exact moment his body decided it was safe enough to show weakness. He quickly pushed himself up onto his knees with his remaining strength to avoid being on his back.
Peter's body retched and hacked until he coughed up every last bit of the green liquid that he swallowed before.
Even after spewing up all of the liquid, his body continued to try and expel something that wasn't there. He continued to dry-heave long after tears began to fall from his eyes.
Peter's body finally gave him a reprieve, and he slumped forward onto the rock-hard ground. Peter was left gasping on the floor, desperately trying to suck in some sort of relatively good air. He sobbed as an overwhelming pain consumed him.
The burning sensation from earlier came back tenfold. He yearned for the peace he had just moments ago.
Peter was so tired. All he wanted was to be able to rest. Despite the heavy fog that was currently weighing down his mind, Peter knows for a fact that over the course of the past week, his entire life went to hell, and Peter's pretty sure he's gotten a collective two hours of sleep over the past few days. Though for the life of him, he couldn't remember why.
With his body still flat against the ground, Peter reached out to pull himself closer to the wall and further away from the pit of green liquid.
The pit was big enough to be a small lake, and Peter wanted nothing to do with it.
He slowly dragged his body across the floor. Scrapes and scratches gathered on his arms and legs. Eventually, he finally found himself close enough to the wall to pull himself up into a sitting position.
Only then did Peter register the weight on his back. He slowly shifted until the weight was off of his back and in his hands.
At first, Peter was confused. Why would he have a random backpack attached to his back at the bottom of the lake? Then it hit him.
Peter might not know exactly why he ended up in the lake of green with the backpack. But he certainly knew how.
Doctor Strange, Peter thought solemnly.
Memories of the past rushed into his mind. With the reminder of the past, also came the reminder of his exhaustion.
His Spidey-sense was at a constant low buzz. But Peter learned long ago to start differentiating between the different ways his senses would warn him of danger.
At the moment his Spidey-sense was telling him that there was no imminent danger, just to make sure that he was weary of his surroundings. And Peter guessed it was most likely because of the small green lake.
Peter focused for a moment to double check that he was safe enough to take a nap. Even though he knew it probably wasn't smart to fall asleep in unknown territory, but his body was exhausted, and his senses deemed it an okay space to stay put for awhile.
Peter let his eyes close and shifted until his knees met his chest. Once he situated himself Peter sighed and let himself relax a miniscule amount.
Laughter filled the air as the two relaxed in Peter's bed. Peter looked up at Harley and smiled. It was the first time in about a month that the two teens got to see each other in person again.
"So you're saying that he broke into your garage, and then you shot him with a potato?" Peter giggled in between words.
"Well, in my defense. It's not like I could carry an actual weapon, so I built the potato gun." Words breathless from their laughing fits.
Suddenly an unwanted, psychotic laugh replaced Peter and Harley's sense of calm. Peter hesitantly turned around to see the Green Goblin's glider take Iron Lad out of the sky.
Peter screamed as he watched the suit fall with Harley inside. Harley slammed into the ground with a hard thud.
Peter's senses zeroed in on the unmoving body as he swung over as fast as he could, refusing to believe what he couldn't hear.
He landed next to Harley and ripped off the the suit's faceplate. Peter put two fingers on his neck. Looking for anything that might give signs of life.
There was nothing.
Refusing to look at his best friend's bloodied face, Peter then focused his hearing down to Harley's chest.
Nothing.
That doesn't make sense. Peter knows Harley is alive. He survived the fall last time, why couldn't he this time?!
Last time...
It was a dream. It had to be a dream. Because Peter wouldn't, no, couldn't lose someone else. Especially not Harley.
"Come on, wake up. I've got to wake up. You survived. I know you survived. I watched you get back up. I helped you get back up!" Peter cried out. Manic laughter rang out, Peter had to wake up now.
Wake up.
Wake up!
Wake up!
WAKE UP!
Peter's eyes shot open as he sucked in as much air as he could.
It was a dream. One big fucking nightmare of a dream, he thought. There was no way it was real. Harley's safe, Harley's alive.
An Earth-shattering realization hit him when his senses couldn't lock onto Harley's body. He couldn't hear Harley breathing nor Harley's heartbeat.
Peter took a deep breath in, and slowly let it out, digging his hands into the ground below him. Doctor Strange had said something before they left their world. Or, well, tried too at least.
What did he say? I'm placement -onths? No. Peter knows that his words were cut off by the roaring of the universe, but what was it.
What in the fucking hell could I'm placement onths translate to?
Displacement! Peter mentally grabbed onto the word with a vice grip. There weren't many other words that had placement in them, so displacement was the most probable option.
Onths probably goes into months if he's being honest. Not much else to that word, considering he only missed the beginning of it. Though Peter was missing the number of months if Doctor Strange told him. Oh, well.
Now, what the hell could I'm be? It wasn't I'm. He's missing letters. Peter knows he is.
So, Peter started listing words off of his head until he found the one that made the most sense.
Rhyme, lime, sign, dime, grime, crime, time...
That's it! Time! So putting it all together led to "Time displacement months"! Peter frowned as he put the words together.
Time displacement?
Does that mean that someone could be here while the other is not? Does that mean Harley got here first or did Peter?
From the way his Spidey-sense is buzzing Peter had the heavy feeling that he was the one who got here first.
He sighed again for the millionth time that day and unfurled his body. He had to get up. Doctor Strange said that it could last for months. At least, that's what he's hoping Strange had said. So no more than a year. That's good, well, not good, but he has a timetable now.
Peter gripped the wall with one hand and used the other to put the backpack on his shoulders. He looked towards his arm on the wall and noticed that he was no longer in his Spider-Man suit.
He was wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt. He was also wearing dark baggy sweatpants.
Both of which were wet from the green pit. Peter has no idea how he didn't register the change of clothes earlier. And while he's at it. Why the fuck were his hands smaller?!
Peter immediately ripped the backpack off of his shoulders and pulled his phone out. The phone itself was toast at the moment. It wasn't waterproof, but it could be repaired later. But he could still use the phone as a mirror and look at himself.
And he did, in fact, look.
What once should have been his seventeen-year-old self reflecting back at him, was a face he hadn't seen since the spider bite, when he was thirteen...
Strange had said that there would be changes, small changes. He said that there would be no drastic changes.
No drastic changes his ass!
By the gods, Peter was thirteen again. Did that mean Harley was thirteen as well?
Skimping over the age change, there was also a difference to his physical appearance as well. There was a white streak of hair in the front of his hair, and his eyes were still brown, but there were hints of green and gold. Gods, he didn't even look like himself.
There was nothing he could do about it. Peter needed to make his peace with that and move on. He could have his insane freak out later once he was safer. His Spidey-sense was starting to become more weary of this place the longer he stayed here.
By now his eyes had adjusted to the dark.
Peter didn't even need to see to know he was underground. The air pressure was different, and the air was also stiffer and staler than it would be above ground.
But by some miracle there was an arched doorway on the other end of the cave. Cleary man-made with how clean the curve of the arch was. Barely even a crack in the doorway, dusty maybe, but much neater compared to the rest of the cave.
Peter carefully put the bag on his back again and fully stood up this time from his sitting position and made his way over. Staying as close as he could to the wall and as far away from the green pit as he possibly could be.
Slowly creeping towards the doorway, Peter stretched his senses, listening for any signs of life or danger. Hearing only silence was a comfort and a discomfort.
He could hear signs of life of course, but the only signs of life came from far, far, above him. Not to mention the fact that it was faint. Sounds were never quiet, not to Peter. Just how far down underground was Peter?
Peter slowly stepped through the doorway to see a humongous cylindrical chasm. By the time he stepped through the doorway, also seemed to be the time where his good luck ran out.
Because from where Peter stood in this massive chasm, he was at the bottom of it with seemingly no clear way out.
Peter was at least a hundred feet down; most likely closer to a hundred-fifty feet if he's being honest.
What once could have been a steady and stable staircase that wrapped around the chasm, was now in shambles. Giant spaces in between where sets of stairs should have connected. Mounds of rubble laid in front of Peter.
Peter stared blankly at the piles of rock in front of him as he thought of ways on how to get out.
Now Peter isn't afraid of heights. He got over that fear awhile ago, but there were too many risks to climbing straight up.
One, he didn't know how stable the chasm itself was. One wrong move could send this entire place crumbling down on top of him. Two, he didn't know this place. For all Peter knows, he could be climbing the wrong way and be climbing right into a death trap with no way of truly knowing other than his senses.
So, the only option left was to follow the path of the ruined stairs.
Peter steadily walked around the ground floor, searching for the bottom of the stairs. The best he could find were a set of stairs attached to the wall about ten feet above a pile of rubble.
He took a step back before launching himself up. Maybe a little too high up, considering that he nearly overshot the first set of stairs entirely.
Peter steadied himself and reassessed his surroundings, this time Sam's words ringing through his head.
"If you're ever in unknown territory, assess your situation, the land around you, and what you have on you. Be careful with every step you take." Sam had told him once on one of the many secret visits the Rogue Avengers (as the media liked to call them) had to the compound.
So he skipped the step of seeing what he had, so what? He was being careful, and the only truly helpful thing would be either his suit, webshooters, or Karen.
The thought of his late AI hurt more than he thought it would, and Peter had to work to shake the feeling off.
Bringing himself back to reality, Peter felt the stairs beneath him slightly shake. He grimaced as he realized that he was correct in his earlier assumption.
These stairs could barely hold the weight of his thirteen-year-old body. He had to be absolutely aware of his surroundings, lest he fall and receive an untimely injury; the fall would most likely not kill him, even from the top of the chasm. He's fallen from higher heights and walked away with at most a broken bone or two.
With that thought, Peter was steady on his feet once more. Assured in his own abilities to judge the distances between jumps like how he normally would, he began to jump, leap, flip, land, and repeat the process over and over again. Always light on his feet.
Sometimes Peter would falter when he came across an incredibly unsteady set of stairs. Even so, Peter carried on as best as he could.
It felt like it took hours to even get halfway up. Usually, it would take him only a few minutes at most to scale a skyscraper. However, with how unstable each platform was, Peter had to constantly take breaks and brace himself.
Yet Peter carried on, determined to at least get out of this particular chasm before his body forced him to stop. He ignored the hunger in his stomach as it tried to make itself known. He's ignored it enough times before when May and Tony hadn't yet learned about his enhancements.
With one final jump to the next platform, Peter was at last met with another doorway at the top of the chasm.
Not even caring to check his surroundings, Peter pushed himself forwards as he felt the stairs give way underneath him.
After a few moments, the platform hit the bottom of the chasm with a resounding thud. Shattering into a thousand pieces and joining the rest of the rubble on the floor.
Peter let out a breath of relief now that he was done scaling and jumping across at least a hundred different sets of stairs and platforms.
In his relief and minimal excitement, Peter nearly missed the small, weak heartbeat coming from within the new tunnel.
Peter snapped his body away from the chasm and looked at the tunnel in front of him. He focused on the heartbeat as quickly as he could. It was too weak, dying almost.
He hadn't heard it from the bottom of the chasm, Peter could barely hear it now. But he knew it was nearby.
So he walked as quickly as he could while maintaining a cautious mindset. Taking turns and twists down stone halls, he eventually came across what he was looking for.
What he found broke his heart.
A small dog, no, a puppy, covered in dust and what seemed to be a thin layer ice, laid in the middle of the tunnel.
Tears sprang into Peter's eyes as he rushed forward. Dogs had always been a weak spot for him, and that seemed to have never changed over the years.
He carefully picked up the puppy, attentive to make sure its fur wasn't stuck to the ground. It was so tiny. She (from what he saw when picking her up, was a female) fit in a single one of his small hands. Though Peter made sure to carry the poor girl with both hands. Peter was helpless as the poor girl struggled to breathe.
Suddenly, the layers of dust and ice fell. Peter's eyes widened as her heartbeat grew stronger. Her breathing also suddenly improved as her airways seemingly cleared.
Though Peter didn't know how, but he was sure as hell grateful that her health improved so quickly. He would think about how suspicious the minerals fell away later with the rest of the "for later" thoughts.
Sam would call it "white people bullshit" to not be suspicious of it and think about it now, but Peter couldn't help it.
The fur that was brown from dust and dirt, was now pure black. She opened her eyes to reveal chocolate brown eyes as she whined in Peter's hands.
Peter shushed her and gently rubbed his thumb against her fur. She calmed almost immediately and gave the cutest yawn then fell back asleep. Heart strong, breathing steady.
Peter frowned as he looked up and around them. The tunnel was dark, but in his haste to get to the poor girl he hadn't noticed how close to the surface he was.
He could hear everything much clearer than before. The heartbeats of humans, the sirens of the police, drivers honking their horns.
He carefully put the puppy down in his lap and took the backpack off again to find a different top piece. Peter knows he shoved a jacket in there somewhere.
With a quiet "aha!" Peter took off his still soaked long-sleeve shirt and shoved the jacket on. He then picked up the small puppy again and put her in a big inside pocket. He didn't trust the city above them. What with the yelling, police sirens, occasional gunshots, and more.
Peter zipped the jacket up before shoving the shirt back in the bag and putting said bag on his back.
He sat there for a minute, attempting to get used to the amount of noise, then got up, and made his way further up the tunnel.
Eventually, Peter found himself in a stone room. He was above ground now; he could feel it.
Peter felt the puppy shift in the pocket. He unzipped the jacket and gently brought her out. Her brown eyes stared back up at him.
For some unknown reason, Peter felt this overwhelming rage. Not towards the puppy, of course not. This rage was directed at whoever abandoned the poor girl in those tunnels.
But when Peter looked back into those big brown eyes, his anger instantly calmed. Still there, but a faraway cry from what it had been just seconds ago.
"I can't keep calling you girl, puppy, or poor thing, can I?" He asked, voice slightly hoarse from the disuse of it. Said puppy tilted her head while sitting in his hands.
Peter didn't know why, but it felt wrong to just keep calling her "puppy". A name randomly popped up in his head as he looked at her.
"How does Nova sound? Don't know why I thought of it, but it's a pretty name." Peter smiled as Nova seemed to respond and like her new name.
She began to wiggle in his hands, and he brought her up to his chest to try and calm her. Nova seemed to have different plans. She wriggled until she escaped Peter's hold and found herself tucked into the side of Peter's neck. Somehow nudging the jacket aside and laying on his bare skin.
Nova curled up into a ball, and Peter softly smiled at her as he used his abilities to stick her to him. He didn't want her falling off just because he was moving to quickly.
Peter pulled the hood of his jacket on as he braced himself to open the doors to his new world.
With Nova situated in between his shoulder and neck, he had nothing left to do other than push those doors open.
Peter gulped as he approached the doors. Hands braced against the handles of two wooden doors.
He pushed the doors open with more force than he probably should have.
But now he was face to face with the sight of a... graveyard?
Notes:
Ages, cause I'm messing with the timelines.
Dick- 30
Bruce- 43
Jason- 26
Barbara- 31
Cassandra- 27
Damian- 16
Peter & Harley- 17 (before getting thrown into a new verse)
Tim- 21
Duke- 20
Mar'i- 5
Jake- 2
Stephanie- 23Hope yall will like Nova. She was going to be put in another fic, but there were too many plot holes. So now she's here!
Don't worry, more Harley coming soon! As well as more characters!
Chapter 3: The Alley Of Crime
Summary:
Tw: mentions of jumping
My ass has never been more lost than looking at a gotham map. Sooo, I found a general one, but I have no idea what I'm doing location wise.
Oh well ~••~
Never put me in Gotham, I'll die immediately from just going to the wrong place. T-T
Notes:
Should Cassandra be Black Bat or Orphan? Yall choose, though, I myself am leaning towards Black Bat
Also, what took me so long to upload, was the fact that I was sorting out how to pay for my schooling. You do not know the RELIEF I felt when I found out that I didn't have to pay for my tuition.
Financial difficulties are my skill issue
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
If Peter's going to be honest with himself. He was not expecting to find himself in a graveyard. But he paid no mind to it. It was just another location he didn't know anything about. Peter then looked up. The sun was beginning to set, giving the sky a surprisingly beautiful orange color.
Peter turned his body back towards the stone crypt.
Now that Peter was actually looking at it, the hole in the floor that led to the tunnels was well hidden by dusty pieces of broken wood, wooden crates, and a whole bunch of rusty bits and pieces of metal. But it wasn't totally blocking the way into the tunnels. If someone got too close, they would easily be able to see the hole in the floor.
The hole itself wasn't too big, so he walked back into the crypt and carefully shifted a few of the heavier crates (practically the weight of a paper clip for Peter, but heavy enough that ordinary everyday humans would struggle to move it on their own) to block the hole that would eventually lead back to the green pit.
Once Peter was done shifting crates and pieces of wood, he made his way back to the exit with another piece of wood in his hands. Peter did the best he could to jam the door with the thin, but sturdy piece of wood. He didn't want anyone finding the green pit ever. Peter's senses screamed that it was bad news, something that was better off being left alone.
The crypt looked to be at the back of whatever graveyard he ended up in. The graveyard didn't look to be to massive, but it wasn't small either. It didn't help that this world seemed to be approaching winter. Or maybe it was always this cold? Whatever it was, was only slowing Peter down.
Peter made sure that Nova was secure in her position on his shoulder before making his way to exit of the graveyard.
As he made his way out there was a sign that read "Old Gotham Graveyard." Peter had never heard of an 'Old Gotham,' and he wasn't sure if it even existed in his universe.
It didn't even occur to Peter that changes in landmarks, landforms, and even history would be a problem before. But now? Yeah, it was going to be a problem. If he didn't know the bare basics, then he would struggle to keep himself alive.
All Peter could do was grimace as he walked further into what he assumed was Old Gotham. Or was he leaving Old Gotham?
Peter had no idea if this city was like New York City with boroughs, but it had to have been something along the same lines. The city was big, Peter could hear how massive it was. How far the sounds spread out.
The city bordered on being as big, if not bigger, than New York City.
Though the buildings of Old Gotham were in shambles. It was a god damn safety hazard. Hell, from the sounds of it, this entire city was a safety hazard.
Every now and then Peter would hear gunshots ring out. Police sirens were practically always active somewhere in this city.
Buildings were cracked. Some probably had mold growing throughout. Others looked like a single strong gust of wind could bring them toppling down.
Peter kept walking for a few blocks before he saw people walking on the sidewalks and across streets. Or rather, he heard people before he saw them. Though he nearly recoiled with how loud everything was.
With Peter's enhancements, everything had always been loud. He could hear heartbeats of people across the city, he could hear the entire city if he had wanted to before. Maybe beyond the city if he wanted too. But this was a new level of enhanced. Peter could hear people breathing, their hearts beating in their chest. He could hear everything, and it hurt.
He might have been sensitive to sound before, but this was a whole new level of sensitivity. Peter could not even begin to describe how much effort it took to tune out the noises around him, and he wasn't even able to fully block the noise out like he had been able to before in his own world.
Overly sensitive hearing wasn't Peter's only problem though. As he began to walk by people passing by on the streets he could quite literally feel their emotions, their intentions.
Some people's intentions were that of a parent just wanting to go home to their child. Others? They wanted to cause violence, reek havoc, and be the one to shed blood and cause death to be bred.
Peter doesn't know what happened. He doesn't know why he can feel and hear so much more.
His breath began to quicken when he felt a cold nose press against the base of his neck. Peter then felt a massive wave of calm overcome him. He also knew that the calm emotion didn't belong to him at the moment. Not with how he currently felt.
Nova was trying her best to calm him down from where she was perched on his shoulder. Most likely sensing the freak out that was befalling him.
He was immensely grateful for the puppy as his breathing evened out again.
Peter continued walking as he reached up into his hood and gently pet Nova on the head. He began to ponder whether he should keep walking or scale a building to see where he should go as he walked across a bridge into another part of this city.
Having no idea where he was, Peter decided to walk a bit farther and walked across another bridge at a quick pace.
He shook his head as started to violently shiver. He needed to find a place for him and Nova to hunker down and somehow become warmer. He continued to shiver as he spotted a building with a few floors that could oversee a portion of this part of the city.
There was a fire escape that was fairly hidden on the side of the building, smushed between its own wall and the building next to it.
Just like the rest of this part of the city, this building was a bit moldy and cracked, but it also looked to be abandoned. Peter couldn't hear any heartbeats or electricity running through the walls as he climbed the fire escape. There was only about five floors, and Peter occasionally had to climb the wall itself when the fire escape was too broken. He always made sure no one was looking, though.
As he climbed onto the roof, he moved to stand at the edge to take in the city around him.
Nova shifted and slightly scooted forwards on his shoulder until just enough of her was poking out to watch the city below them.
The moon was now high in the sky, and a small, fond smile spread on his face.
He turned his eyes back towards the city. He could hear so much. It still sort of hurt his ears. Even with Peter doing his best to tune the noise out.
While he watched the bustling city below, Peter could hear even more gunshots ring out. Though not all of it was in range of his enhanced eyesight. People yelled in anger, rage, pain, and so much more.
After a few more moments of observing, an idea popped up in Peter's head.
Peter had been so deep underground before when he listened for Harley's heartbeat. Down there Peter hadn't been able to hear the city as well as he could now. Maybe if he listened now, he could hear his best friend's heartbeat.
So Peter began to stretch his senses out a wide distance. But as soon as he stopped attempting to tune everything out, a stabbing pain erupted in his ears. A loud, shattering, ear piercing ringing that shook him to his core, and with Peter's momentary loss of control, he didn't even register his body stumbling forwards off the edge of the roof.
Jason had been having an average night. Although, he did have to non-lethally shoot (per the oldest Bat's rules) a few people about an hour ago that tried to deal drugs to a few teenagers.
Other than that little incident, Crime Alley had been weirdly silent that night. The same couldn't be said for the rest of Gotham however, but Crime Alley was never this quiet.
He could hear Oracle yelling out the location of where some bank heists were being held, or some other types of crime to the Bats on the comms. He had muted himself before he began to patrol the streets of Crime Alley. Distantly listening in case any of the Bats ran into trouble.
Jason ran across rooftops and used the grappling hook when it was needed while watching his surroundings.
Eventually, he came across a kid (had to have been a kid with his height and build, not to mention the clothing) on the edge of one of the abandoned building's rooftops. The kid was more than four floors up for sure.
Concern rose inside of Jason. He knew firsthand how rough life in Gotham could be. It's why he always looked out for the kids in Crime Alley.
He quietly made his way towards the kid, waiting to see what the kid's plan was.
The kid could have been on the roof to help himself think, but realistically, the kid was more than likely to jump. No matter how much it pained Jason to think about it, it was the reality for a lot of the kids in Gotham.
He walked with quiet steps until he was close enough to the kid that if they decided to try anything, he would be able to stop them. Mentally hoping he was wrong thinking that the kid was here to jump.
Jason's eyes widened behind his mask as the kid stumbled forward, feet slipping off the edge. He lunged to grab the kid's backpack and yanked him back onto the rooftop, slightly dragging him closer to the middle of the roof away from the edge.
Jason then turned the kid around to face him to check them for any injuries. The kid was tiny compared to him, barely five-foot. Then Jason nearly tripped and fell on his ass as he took a few steps backwards in surprise.
Said kid had his hands pressing down on his ears, and his eyes were shut tightly. But that wasn't what made Jason take a step back.
It was the streak of white hair amongst brown curls that made him stare. A white streak of hair that was so, so similar to his own.
Jason was thankful for his Red Hood helmet as he sputtered like a fish. Mouth opening and closing silently.
He couldn't help but stare at the kid. The streak was so unnaturally white, and its placement meant that it was practically impossible to dye just those few strands. Especially with the kid's curly hair.
His eyes were eventually drawn away from the kid's hair and towards the kid's shoulder when he heard a high-pitched growling.
Perched on the kid's shoulder was a small (and he meant small) puppy that was poking out from where it was hidden in the kid's jacket.
As the growling continued, the kid finally seemed to notice him.
The child slowly opened his eyes and carefully took his hands off his ears, moving one hand to pet the puppy on his shoulder.
"Calm, Nova, it's okay," the kid muttered while he pet the puppy. Jason had immediately clocked the New York accent.
Jason was now a hundred percent sure that the kid was dropped into a Lazarus Pit. As he looked at Jason's helmet, Jason could now see the brown eyes that were tinged with green. The same exact shade of green that swam in Jason's own blue eyes.
The man felt his heart become heavy as he kept looking into the child's eyes. His eyes were so heavy with grief and loss, bearing the weight of tragedies that no child should ever be witness to.
Now Jason had many questions, but there was only one question that really mattered at the moment... who had dropped this child, who couldn't have been older than thirteen by the way, into a Lazarus Pit?
The kid stared at him warily while continuing to pet the puppy on his shoulder.
"Who.. are you?" The kid asked, and Jason watched as the child's body tensed up, preparing to flee.
"Don't be afraid, my name is Red Hood. Didn't mean to scare you, just making sure you don't do something we'll all regret." Jason attempted to soothe, his modulator distorting his voice. He could see the kid wince as he spoke, then the kid scrunched his eyebrows as he looked at Jason, or rather, the Red Hood.
"I- you thought I was going to jump?" The kid quietly questioned, connecting Jason's own actions to his words, and Jason nodded slowly.
"As much as I hate it. Kids have horrible lives in Gotham, Crime Alley kids especially." Jason paid close attention to the kid's facial reactions.
If the kid was recently dumped into a Lazarus Pit that wouldn't be good. The Pit could leave a person confused at first. The person could have no memory of who they were or where they were currently located.
"You got a name kid?" He asked, hoping to pry some answers out of the child. The kid nodded, still petting the puppy on his shoulder.
"Peter, Peter Parker, and this little one on my shoulder is Nova." Peter motioned his head to Nova as she laid back down and buried herself back underneath Peter's jacket. Seemingly no longer considering Jason a threat.
Jason was so focused on watching Peter's movements that he nearly missed the kid's question.
"Is that what this city is called? Crime Alley?"
Okay, scratch the kid knowing where he was like Jason had assumed. Peter at least knew his name, hopefully it was the correct name, but he didn't know where he was. So that meant the kid was lost, and being lost in Gotham was never good.
"This district is called Park Row, but it really just goes by Crime Alley at this point. The city itself is called Gotham." He answered.
"I wasn't going to jump, you know. I just... I just needed a place to think, and I like high places." Peter attempted to reassure Jason, but it didn't really help. The kid nearly fell off the roof, and that didn't even bring up the fact that Peter was far too close to the edge to begin with.
"Then why did you fall?" Jason questioned.
"I didn't mean to, and thank you... for er- catching me. I swear that I wasn't going to jump. I was looking for someone and didn't realize how close to the edge I was. Really, that's all it was sir." Peter explained, or rather rambled.
"Drop the sir, it's just Red Hood. Or R.H if you're feeling fancy." He joked, trying to get Peter to relax. Jason wanted to help this kid, he really did, but if this child was looking for someone, and was also most likely just dropped into a Lazarus Pit, it could end disastrously.
"I'm going to be honest with you, okay?" Peter nodded, body tensing up a fraction more.
"What is a kid from New York doing in Gotham? Crime Alley no less?" Jason asked bluntly. He needed to know what this child was doing in Gotham. With that accent, it was clear he was from New York.
He didn't know this child personally, but if this kid became lost in a Pit Rage episode, he would be dangerous, no matter how young or old. Jason needed to know if monitoring the kid was going to have to become a necessity or not. Though Jason would most likely keep tabs on him anyway.
Peter's reaction was all he needed.
Jason could see how the kid tried to hide it, but his eyes widened the slightest bit, and his body froze.
"How did you?-" Peter cut himself off. Nova then made a reappearance on the kid's shoulder, growling louder than ever before. The dog bared her teeth, and damn, for a puppy, her teeth were sharp.
"Easy," he put up his hands peacefully. "Your accent gave you away. I'm just trying to find out what a child from New York was doing in New Jersey, and in Gotham of all places."
"New Jersey?!" Peter sputtered.
"Gotta problem with us?" Jason sassed. "No! I don't have a problem with New Jersey! I don't think I do at least.. I just thought I would at least be in New York." Peter muttered the last sentence to himself, but Jason still heard it.
Peter reached up again to calm the angry dog. Nova grumbled but stopped baring her teeth luckily.
The man's eyes narrowed behind his mask. If this kid thought he was in New York, then they had a whole other problem on their hands.
"Red Hood!" Barbara shouted, and Jason quickly unmuted himself while keeping his eyes on Peter.
"Yeah, Oracle?" Jason watched as Peter's line of sight zeroed in on Jason's helmet, specifically where his comm was.
"Scarecrow is in The Bowery, close to the borders of Crime Alley. You're the closest one to him. We need you to secure the area until Red Robin and Spoiler can get to you." Barbara commanded.
Jason sighed as he looked at Peter, it wasn't wise to leave the kid, but Scarecrow had made a new batch of Fear Toxin recently and they couldn't risk the civilians, and Jason was seemingly the closest to the bastard.
"Well shit. Sorry kid, duty calls," Jason said.
"Don't worry, go do your vigilante duties, keep the people safe." Peter sassed slightly, and Jason felt bad with how tired the kid sounded.
"Not a vigilante myself, more like an acquaintance," Jason shot back (gotta keep your reputation as crime lord, right?) before speaking again.
"Promise not to do anything stupid? That includes getting too close to the edge of building rooftops."
Peter smiled tiredly and nodded silently. Jason used that as his cue to head out and move in on Scarecrow.
"Red Hood.. who was that?" Oracle asked, and Jason mentally cursed himself for forgetting that he was still not muted.
"A kid that I thought was going to jump. There's more I need to report back to you and the Bats, but I'll do it back in the cave." He tried to say nonchalantly. He already felt dread anticipating that conversation.
"Okay, report back when you secure the area, Spoiler and R.R. are five minutes out. Be careful."
"I promise nothing." He sassed as he swung between buildings with the grappling hook, closing in on where Scarecrow was spotted.
Jason could already feel how long this night was going to become.
Peter watched as Red Hood left. He didn't know who this Scarecrow person was, he also didn't know who Red Robin or Spoiler were either. But he had a feeling he would learn soon enough.
Red Hood didn't have any sort of evil intentions when Peter spoke to him. At least that was what he felt come off the man. His only concern at the moment seemed to be Peter, and Peter felt bad for scaring the man into thinking that he was going to jump.
It really had been an accident when he slipped forward. He had been momentarily caught off guard by his senses going haywire. His ears were still slightly ringing from the overwhelming noise.
Peter shivered as a particularly strong gust of wind blew in his direction, and he knew he couldn't stay out in the open for a moment longer.
"What do you think about hunkering down here, Nova?" Peter motioned to the abandoned building beneath them.
Nova huffed, and Peter could feel her agreeing. He would be surprised that he could feel her agreement, but he didn't have enough energy left to care at the moment.
Exhaustion rained down upon him. His stomach making itself known once again as well.
As far as Peter knew, he hadn't eaten in about three days. Considering the day he had spent fighting villains at the Statue of Liberty. Then he fell into that pit and then had fallen asleep after crawling out of it. So from that knowledge alone, Peter most likely hadn't eaten for awhile, and his metabolism was now punishing him for it.
Peter grumbled as he walked back towards the fire escape. He had seen a broken window on what looked to be the third floor.
He walked down the fire escape until he was level with the broken window. It was a bit further away from the fire escape than he had initially thought, but that would be no problem for him.
After making sure that there was nobody watching, Peter swiftly stuck to the wall and crawled over to the window. He punched the already broken glass to make a little more room for him to fit through.
Once he was fully inside he looked around. Just as he had assumed earlier, the building was covered in mold. But the walls and floor had also been covered in scorch marks.
It made Peter worry slightly that the reason this building was abandoned was because it was too unstable to actively be in.
Peter shook his head to clear it. If the building was unstable then he would leave, but he needed just a single night of rest. Rest that was barricaded from the harsh cold winds of Gotham.
Thanks to Red Hood he now knew the name of the city and the district he was in.
Peter walked down halls until he found a room with no windows. It didn't have as many scorch marks along the walls too. So that was good.
He sat down in a corner and Nova jumped down from his shoulder. Peter took his backpack off as Nova started sniffing around the room.
He opened the bag to pull out a thick long sleeve shirt. He shrugged the jacket off and then put the shirt on before putting the jacket back on.
Peter dug around his bag for another minute before pulling out a bag of beef jerky. He hadn't even realized he had grabbed it. Peter sat the food down before continuing to ruffle around his bag.
Unlike his clothes and phone that were absolutely positively soaked after waking up in the green pit. Most of his backpack contents had remained dry. Food, clothes, and other miscellaneous items were practically completely dry.
He whistled for Nova to come over as he snacked on a piece of beef jerky. He gave a few pieces to Nova and then put the food back into his bag. Rationing the rest for later.
Peter used the backpack as a pillow as he laid down on the hard concrete floor.
Nova waddled over on her small paws while continuing to munch on the beef jerky stick Peter had given her. He wrapped his arms around her small body and curled up, trying to keep any warmth in him. He smiled sadly at the puppy in his arms when his senses began to yell.
Then, the loud crash of glass shattering rang throughout the building. On the same floor as him and Nova, Peter noted
Peter sat up and then listened closely with an iron grip on his controlled breathing.
Notes:
Terms might be wrong or somethin, but I'm tired and haven't slept, so my research isn't going past the map of Gotham, and that itself short-circuited my brain.
Chapter 4: The Mindless & Terrified
Notes:
So I started school! Sorry about the wait, but now updates will probably have a longer space between them. Sorry!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Dammit! Jason thought as he shot another one of Scarecrow's goons. He was currently pinned down in one of Crime Alley's small construction factories.
For some unknown reason, Scarecrow had more men than usual. He had barely managed to clear the area in time before Fear Toxin had been released into the air.
Scarecrow had used a much larger area for his experiment than they had anticipated. The area spanned from the edge of The Bowery and went a good way into Crime Alley, and Steph and Tim were still nowhere to be found.
Jason non-lethally shot another one of Scarecrow's men. If Tim and Stephanie didn't get here soon, Jason might have to start lethally shooting people. And of course, this happens when Bruce and him are actually getting along again (for the umpteenth time of them making up and Jason tolerating Bruce).
They had been fighting last week about Jason making the call to kill another one of Gotham's miscellaneous villan's goons. Though it was partly Jason's fault for not telling the old Bat that there were more men than Jason alone could handle. (They had made up when Bruce found out that Jason had instinctively reacted to a gun being aimed at his chest.)
But in the here and now, without backup, Fear Toxin in the air, and a small crack in his helmet, Jason was going to have to stop pulling punches and actually start aiming to kill. This variant of the Fear Toxin could be smelled through Jason's helmet, and Jason did not want to find out what would happen if the toxin somehow got through the small crack on the side of his Red Hood helmet.
Jason ducked behind another crate as a stray bullet came a little too close to his face.
"Oracle! Where is Red Robin and Spoiler?!" Jason shouted over the gunfire.
"RR and Spoiler is about three minutes away, just hang in there, Red Hood! I'm directing them down the quickest route." Jason could hear Barbara's breathing, calm as ever, but the slight shaky inhales gave away her stress and concern. Jason was alone against who knows how many men, and for some god forsaken reason, Jason was running out of ammo.
"Think the old Bat is going to be mad at me for taking lethal shots?" Jason yelled. He grunted as a bullet hit his body armor. It would leave a good-sized bruise, but the bullet bounced off his armor.
"Batman is on the way, though he is the furthest from you. I'm putting you all onto the same line." Barbara yelled out.
"How are you holding up, RH?" Tim was the first to speak.
Jason grunted as another bullet grazed his leg. This time, it broke skin.
"Just peachy!" Jason replied as he shot off three more rounds. "If none of you get here in about thirty seconds, I'm using lethal force," Jason grit out. He hissed in pain as another bullet hit his chest, his body armor still protecting him, but he's almost certain that he had a cracked rib now.
"Just hang in there, Red Hood," was Bruce's first words to Jason that night.
"Trying too! Fuck!" Jason shouted in pain. Two bullets hitting his right leg, causing him to crash into the ground. He quickly dragged his body against the crate for cover. One of the bullets had hit the middle of his thigh, and the other had hit his knee head on.
"I'm down, right leg's injured." Jason breathed in deeply. He could hear Scarecrow's men making their way closer to him. "I'm gonna have to take lethal shots, B." His words directly aimed towards Bruce. Tim and Stephanie were still probably about a minute out, and Jason was running out of time.
"Do it. If they get too close, take the shot, I'm not burying you again, Red Hood." Jason could hear the strain in Bruce's usually monotonous voice, and he grimaced as old memories resurfaced.
But Jason understood the dire situation. He wasn't even supposed to go in guns blazing yet, but one of Scarecrow's men had spotted him clearing the area of civilians. Now, in this moment, Jason has been shot and is pinned down without backup for at least another minute.
As Jason prepared to shoot one of the bastard's getting too close, the sound of glass shattering rang through the air. Less than a second later did a sound so similar to Superman's heat vision come flying in, knocking the man Jason was about to shoot, hurtling backward into the wall behind him.
Jason watched with hidden wide eyes as the man crumpled on the ground.
Peter grabbed Nova and put her back on his shoulder. He put his backpack over his shoulders and slowly crept closer to the hallway. Once Peter was close enough to peek past the doorway, he made sure to stick himself to the wall and stay out of sight.
The shattered glass laid there on the floor. Standing above the glass were things Peter didn't even know how to describe.
Three people (were they even human?) stood there dressed to the nines. They wore what Peter thinks is black armor that covered their entire bodies, including their faces.
Their faces had accessories that resembled that of an owl. These people were also geared to fight an army, which Peter was most certainly not.
Screw staying out of the cold. And with the way his senses were screaming about the danger these things posed, Peter needed to get out of here yesterday. So he slowly began to creep back to the entrance he used just minutes ago.
Peter made sure he was light on his feet, not making a single sound like Aunt Nat and Clint had taught him.
He made sure to keep an eye and ear on those things, watching their every move.
Peter was close to the window he had used to enter the building earlier. As he wrapped his hand around the windowsill, he waited with bated breath, listening for those owl-like things to move.
When he didn't hear a sound from them or their heartbeats moving, Peter fully swung himself out of the third floor window, attaching himself to the wall.
As Peter began to scale up the building, a clawed hand reached out from the window and latched onto his ankle horror movie style.
The hand yanked him back into the building and Peter kicked at his assailant's chest with more strength than he meant to use. The figure was sent crashing into the ceiling. But the impact didn't deter them. The other two geared owl-like people charged towards him.
With Nova secure and stuck to his shoulder, Peter did the next best thing for their safety against unknown beings with unknown strength.
He sent himself flying out of the window, and instead of attaching and climbing up the structure, Peter let himself fall.
Peter extended his hand out and stuck to the building right before he hit the ground. The moment his feet were on the ground, Peter ran. He ran faster than any normal human would have been able to run. He ran past multiple blocks before deeming enough space between himself and those things.
Peter's senses and general common sense knew that it wasn't safe on the ground in the open like this. So he ducked into the nearest alley and took a step back. He took a running start before jumping and clearing half the building.
With this smaller body, Peter wasn't able to jump as high as he would have been able to in his old body. He had to jump two more times to reach the top of the building. It took him less than a minute to reach the top. He swung his legs over the building's roof.
Once his feet were steady, he walked backwards, facing the direction of the things that attacked him. Keeping every bit of his focus on their heartbeats.
And in true Peter Parker fashion, he was hyperfocused and forgot to pay attention to the rest of his surroundings in his panic.
He tripped over an object he should have been watching out for.
"Ow!"
Said object shouted.
Okay, this was not a fun trip. He wasn't exactly expecting it to be fun, but he wasn't expecting this.
He had been falling for so long. It was honestly annoying at this point. Just let him hit the ground already.
It had taken a few more moments, but he had been sent crashing down into the ground full force. His body ached as he laid there. His ears were slightly ringing and he could already see the bright sky through his closed eyelids.
His body was exhausted. It yearned for the much needed rest after that god awful battle and then the long trip here.
As the comforting darkness of sleep came to take him, he let it.
Something had rudely awoken him from the wonderful darkness he was resting in.
"Ow!" He shouted as something dug into his side.
His eyes shot open as he turned to face the person or object that had rudely awoken him.
He froze as he saw a familiar face. A face that might've been different, but he would recognize that face anywhere.
The person stared at him, shell shocked.
"Harley?" A very much younger Peter whispered.
Notes:
Sorry that the chapter is short! Assignments have been taking up my time, but I like the ending of this chapter, it sets up the next one!
Chapter 5: Never Can Catch A Break, Can We?
Notes:
Sorry for any mess ups! I noticed that I was misspelling everything at the end of the chapter, so I tried to catch everything I could.
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Text
Harley watched as Peter silently stared at him. Becoming fed up with the silence, Harley decided to say something.
"You're younger, though I would recognize that pretty face anywhere darlin'." Harley joked. He smiled when he saw Peter's face slightly redden from the embarrassment that always came when he called Peter that.
"I'm younger? You're younger!" Peter gestured to Harley's body as he took a step closer to him.
Harley looked down at himself. And Peter was... right. His hands were smaller, his arms were thinner. He didn't have as much muscle on him as he did before.
And when Harley looked at Peter, he noticed the same. He had already noticed that Peter was younger, but he had failed to notice the change in muscle.
Just as Harley had lost a good amount of muscle, Peter did as well, but Peter looked to be on the brink of starvation. Peter hadn't just lost a bit of muscle. He lost a lot. His body and face almost looked skeletal. His hair had a streak of white, and even in the darkness that the night projected over whatever city this was, Harley could clearly see the specks of a bright green in what used to be purely brown eyes.
As Harley's eyes scanned over Peter's body to check for any more changes, his eyes came to rest on the growing puddle of dark liquid at Peter's feet.
Harley rushed forwards to grab onto a slightly swaying Peter, and he means slightly, but Peter doesn't falter often, and he didn't even seem to know he was doing it.
"Peter, you're bleeding," he pointed out to the smaller boy. Peter looked down, and his eyes widened a tick at the puddle.
"Um- I was attacked, I think? I don't know who or what those things were." Peter rambled. Harley tightened his grip on Peter's shoulders to bring him back into focus. He needed to know what happened. As panicked as Peter's words made him, he didn't let it show.
"Focus, Peter. What happened? What attacked you?" Harley questioned slowly.
"Three things, maybe people, in armor. My senses were going off the charts as soon as they broke into the building I was in. When I tried to leave through the window, one of them grabbed me. I think their armor had claws or something, I wasn't really paying attention. Which is why I ran into you, actually! Sorry about that, by the way." Peter said the last sentence quietly, and Harley shook his head.
"Don't be, you were focusing on the threat, pretty sure that's more important. You still sense them?" Peter shook his head.
"I can't, my senses- um- they're kinda out of control right now. I don't know why. I locked onto them earlier when I was near them, but I lost focus. It hurts to try and stretch my senses out. I tried looking for you earlier, nearly knocked myself out." Peter trailed off into nervous laughter. Then Peter looked up at him with teary eyes.
"What's got you all teary-eyed?" Harley asked as playfully as he could in their situation. Trying to lighten the mood even just a bit.
Peter suddenly stormed Harley, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck. Harley wrapped his own arms around the smaller boy's waist, attempting to soothe whatever was haunting his best friend's head. Peter buried his face into the crook of Harley's neck, muffling the sounds of what Harley knew to be sobs.
"I'm sorry!" Peter cried. "This is my fault. This world isn't safe, my senses won't shut up. Even up here we aren't safe!"
Harley's eyes widened as he looked around. They were pretty high up, but if Peter said they weren't safe, then they probably weren't.
He shook his head as he looked down at his friend. Harley then gently grabbed Peter's chin to make him look Harley in the eyes.
"This is not your fault. Strange was the one who did the spell, not you. So until I see you magicking us into random worlds, I don't want you blaming yourself. You hear me?" He said sternly. Harley knew exactly how easy Peter turned to blaming himself. And he would have to work endlessly to stop Peter from doing exactly that.
Peter nodded in his hold. Harley released his grip on his chin and hugged him tightly.
"I'm still taller than ya. Some things don't change. Do they?" Harley chuckled as he put his chin on Peter's head. His southern accent coming out just a bit more. Peter snorted, tucking his own face into Harley's chest.
"We should leave, it isn't safe here." Peter stated after a moment, and Harley gave him a small hum.
"Alright, we'll leave in a minute, but I want to see what you got from our world. It might help us down the road." He motioned to Peter's bag, (why was it soaked?) and took a step back. Reluctantly leaving their hug.
Peter wiped his face of tears before tugging his bag off his shoulders as Harley did the same with his own. They sat on the ground, and Peter rifled through his bag for a second before looking up and pinning his eyes on Harley's wrist.
Harley looked down at his wrist. His watch, that a certain late billionaire had gifted him, sat there. Peter rose a brow at it.
"Does it still work?" He gestured to Harley's watch, and Harley knew exactly what he meant.
Tony had stored the Iron Lad suit in this watch. It was nanotechnology, just as Peter's Iron Spider suit was.
He tapped the watch, and his suit began to form around his hand. It continued down to his forearm and then just... stopped.
Harley tapped his watch again. Waiting for his suit to expand. But it didn't, it never went past his forearm. He sighed and looked up at Peter with a disappointed look.
"I can't get it to work, it's not going past my forearm. The nanogenes aren't even regenerating. Sorry." Harley tsked at his watch. He tried to get his suit to expand more again, but each attempt failed. His suit was busted, though Harley could see that the gauntlet on his hand still worked, so that was a plus.
Peter shook his head.
"Don't be, at least you still have part of your suit. I don't even have mine, woke up in a pit of green liquid that felt like it was burning me alive." Peter shrugged as Harley gave him a curious look.
"That's what caused the change in your looks?" Harley asked as he continued to mess with his watch. Growing more frustrated with the item by the second.
Peter shrugged again and looked down at his hands. "Maybe? I don't know, everything is different now. I feel weird, like I can't control my own abilities." Harley gave him a concerned look. He knew that Peter has, well used to have, a vibranium grip on his powers. Sometimes his senses went out of whack, but that was the extent of his loss of control in their world.
"That loss of control include your strength?"
"I'm pretty sure it includes my strength. I kicked one of those attackers a lot harder than I meant, too, but it could have also been the adrenaline from today."
The concerned look on Harley's face morphed into silent shock as he heard a soft growling come from Peter's shoulder. He sent Peter a questioning look as he scooted forward an inch.
Peter looked at his shoulder with wide eyes.
"Uh- I might have forgotten about her." Peter said as he reached up to his shoulder.
Harley nearly cooed at the tiny puppy Peter pulled off his shoulder. He slowly extended his hand and let the puppy sniff him.
"Well, who's this little baby? Where'd ya find her? And how'd you forget about her?" He questioned as he held his hand in the air. The puppy's fur was nearly midnight black in its darkness. Its eyes were a slight lighter shade of brown that Peter used to have in his eyes.
The puppy sniffed Harley's hand for a moment before they leaned into his hand. He gently scratched behind the puppy's ear.
"Her name is Nova, and I found her in the catacombs I was in. I'm surprised she stayed silent up until now. Met someone earlier, and she immediately started growling when they got too close."
Harley nodded absent-mindedly as Nova turned away from his hand and went back to resting on Peter's shoulder.
"Who'd you meet? Can we trust 'em?" He asked as he returned to figuring out what they had in their bags.
"He said his name was Red Hood. I thought he was a vigilante, but he said he was a crime lord instead. Though I'm still pretty sure he's a vigilante of some kind. He answered the call for trouble and left me on a roof a few blocks away."
As if on cue, the sound of gunshots rang through the air.
Harley, Peter, and Nova became alert as soon as the first shot rang out. And Harley doesn't know if it was his or Peter's luck that the gunshots came from right below them. Both of them had notoriously bad luck, Peter more so, but Harley could give him a run for his money at times.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Peter spoke through nearly gritted teeth.
"What? What is it? Don't give me that look! I woke up not even ten minutes ago!" Peter shook his head in response. His words nor expression wasn't directed at Harley then, that was good.
"Red Hood ran this way. I hadn't realized before, but I see it now. And now we're practically sitting on top of whatever trouble's cooking."
Harley looked down at the situation before them. Or rather, below them.
The building across the one Peter and himself were on seemed to be a small factory of some sort. Peter got his attention and then pointed to a man with a red helmet that was pinned down. Alone.
"That's the Red Hood." Harley nodded.
"Is there a reason why he's alone?" He inquired. Peter shrugged.
"I heard on his comms that he had backup coming. But I don't see any. He might've been discovered before he was meant to be."
"You want to do something about it?"
He could see Peter thinking about it.
"Does your gauntlet work?"
A quick hum was Harley's response.
"Good. We'll stay hidden, I don't want any unnecessary gunfire coming at us."
Harley then moved to go down the fire escape facing the factory. Peter quickly put a hand on his arm to stop him.
"Don't. Stay up here. There's something in the air. I can feel and smell it, but we're safe from it up here."
Peter shot a glance towards the men on the ground, and now that Harley was paying attention, he could see that everyone had a gas mask, or helmet in the Red Hood's case.
He moved further back on the roof quickly as his gauntlet wrapped around his hand.
Even without his helmet for target lock, Harley was a damn good shot. He aimed the repulsor at a man who was getting too close to the Red Hood. He would have to shoot through a window, but a measly window wouldn't stop the blast from a repulsor. There just might be some collateral from the flying glass. Though that was the enemies problem, not theirs.
He made sure to check that the setting on his gauntlet wouldn't kill anyone, but it would definitely immobilize them.
The whirring sound started up and not even a second later, the gauntlet let out a short blast. The blue light illuminating the dark corners as it passed through the darkness this city held.
Glass shattered as Harley's shot hit its mark.
Eyes turned in their direction as soon as the man crumpled on the floor. The now young teenagers ducked to stay out of view.
"Nice shot!" Peter whispered, and he smirked.
"The hell was that!?" Someone yelled from below.
"Does it matter? Get the Red Hood and we'll deal with that later!" Another voice said.
Harley didn't even have to look at Peter to know what he was thinking. He sat up just enough so that he was out of view but could also still see and shoot. Peter followed his actions, watching their surroundings.
Harley took aim at three men that were essentially lining up for him.
He grinned at the old familiar feeling that came with the business in this line of work. The feeling when he was in his suit above his enemies. Shooting any threat down without a second thought and a grin on his face.
That same grin was there now.
He let out three quick blasts in less than five seconds. Effectively bringing the men to their knees.
"Peter, how many enemies do you see?" Harley whispered, aiming at two more men that were on the second floor.
"Thirty-eight, but you've already taken out four. So that leaves thirty-four." Peter said as two figures landed on the building beside them.
Both of the teens stayed silent as they observed the newcomers.
One of them was a female with long blonde hair. She wore a black mask that covered the bottom half of her face, a purple cape and hood, and the rest of her suit containing the same colors.
The other person was a man with a gas mask that covered the lower half of his face. Harley could tell that he didn't wear it with the rest of his suit on a day to day basis. He had a black cape, and his suit was lined with red and black colors. His hair was black, and the domino mask on his face was the same.
Harley and Peter stayed hidden, watching for what the two would do. They were positioned in a perfect spot that if the two newcomers looked over at the teens, they would see them as if they were in broad daylight.
It was too late for the teens to move. If they did, they would be spotted immediately.
The two then suddenly made their way to the ground. Drawing the attention of the men that were crowding Red Hood's spot for cover.
The two didn't hesitate to then bring out their weapons. Both had bo staffs, and with said staffs, they begin beating the shit out of the men.
"I'm going to assume that that's backup?" Harley asked, his eyes never diverting from the fight scene below.
"I would assume so," Peter said as another figure came into view. A man with a black domino mask, dark hair, in a black suit with blue covering his chest in what looked to be a bird. The blue from the wings extending down the man's arms. As soon as the man's feet touched the ground, he pulled two sticks off his back and began fighting.
It seemed like the man in black and blue's priority was the Red Hood. Taking out any person that got too close to the downed man.
"The air is clearing up." Peter spoke suddenly.
"We're not going down there!"
"Of course not! I'm not looking for another identity reveal before we even have one!" Peter snapped back. Harley grimaced.
That wasn't what he meant, well mostly not what he meant.
"I didn't mean it that way. I meant that neither of us have our gear." Harley sighed. "What did you want to do?"
Peter looked at him before speaking. "I was just letting you know. I know we're both paranoid, more than we should be at times, but I think with everyone down there and reinforcements arriving, it's a good time for us to leave."
"Okay, yeah, good time to go. You have a place in mind on where we could go?"
"Yeah I do," Peter pointed down, "this building is abandoned. No immediate heartbeats or electricity. I would say the only true danger would come from the incoming cold air." Harley looked around, the fight below still on going.
"Crossfire a worry at all?" He asked and Peter shook his head no.
"I don't think so. Plus, it looks like their wrapping it up." The shorter boy pointed out. Harley nodded as they made their way to a fully functioning fire escape.
Peter led the way down, scanning everything around them. They eventually came to a stop at a window next to the fire escape. Peter used brute force to break the locks and shove it open.
They crawled inside, light on their feet as they walked across the floor. The two came to a stop in a room that had three doors. Three exits, Harley thought absent-mindedly.
Peter sat down first, letting Nova off his shoulder to roam around before rubbing his eyes. They took their backpacks off and set them down in the corner next to Peter.
"Tired?" Peter nodded sleepily, coming down from the adrenaline high.
"Sleep, I'll block off the doors. We'll be awake before anyone can even step foot in here." Harley whispered as he moved stray boxes, chairs, and an old table in front of the separate doors. (What was with abandoned buildings having almost the same stuff every time?)
Once he was done, he sat down next to Peter, letting the shorter lean his weight on Harley.
Harley leaned his head back against the wall as he came down from his own adrenaline, yawning quietly as the realm of sleep came for him. Nova trotted over and made herself comfortable in his lap, leaving Peter be to sleep.
He got as comfortable as he could before slipping into darkness with the sound of Peter softly snoring and the feeling of Nova in his lap.
Dick was not having a good night. Most of the bad came from Jason being alone against a shit ton of Scarecrow's men alone and injured, though.
Tim and Steph were the first ones to get to the small factory filled with Fear Toxin. Dick following about a minute after.
Bruce took a few more minutes to get there. But once he did, it was game over for Scarecrow's men.
Dick could see the tension lining his adoptive father's body as he fought and dodged man after man. The stress of Jason being shot surely helped build the tension that lined every inch of the older man.
Dick made his way over to Jason and kneeled down beside him.
Blood was pooling out of Jason's leg, but it seemed to slow a bit thanks to his minor healing factor.
"Let's get you out of here little wing." Dick said as Tim knocked out the last of Scarecrow's men.
As soon as the last man went down, Bruce was by Jason's side.
"Are there exit wounds?" Bruce's gruff voice rang out, and Jason slowly nodded while groaning.
The rumble of the Batmobile came rolling down the street before it came to a screeching halt.
Dick could see Bruce assess the best way to move Jason through his mask. Bruce then moved to pick Jason up just enough so that he could stand.
Jason was leaning most of his weight on Bruce as they made their way to the Batmobile. Dick heard Jason's groans and frowned. He hated when his brother was hurt, when any of his siblings were hurt enough that they were practically incoherent.
Bruce loaded Jason into the Batmobile and left quickly to go back to the Bat Cave. Dick could already tell that the younger wouldn't appreciate the bed rest that he would be put on, but everyone else could care less.
"Are we done here?" Stephanie said as she put her bo staff back in its place on her belt. Tim did the same with his own weapon.
"Yeah, we should-" Dick was cut off by someone groaning on the ground.
"The fuck," the man groaned. "Did you lot hire another?" The man struggled to piece together his words.
"What do you mean by another?" Tim asked.
"That blast. It shot me first, but it doesn't come from any of the normals bats' weapons."
All three vigilantes frowned at the man's words.
Was there someone new on the playing field? Dick hadn't heard about anyone that could make blasts strong enough to leave a person this stunned, and Clark definitely wasn't in the city at the moment.
"That's for us to know, and you to think about in prison." Dick said as sirens were heard speeding down Crime Alley.
"Time for clean up!" Stephanie groaned as she stretched.
Dick agreed with the sentiment. The clean up was never fun, but it needed to be done. He pushed the thoughts of the possible new person to the back of his mind to focus on the present. Though one thought didn't allow itself to be hidden away.
Was this new person a friend or foe?
Chapter 6: Supplies, Rest, & Moving On
Summary:
Adding ages again, plus some new ones!
Jake- 2
Mar'i- 5
Lian- 6
Damian- 16
Peter & Harley- 17 (before getting thrown into a new verse)
Duke- 20
Tim- 21
Stephanie- 23
Jason- 26
Cassandra- 27
Roy- 28
Dick- 30
Barbara- 31
Bruce- 43
Notes:
Who knew a sport could be so draining? HAH! NOT ME! (I did know, but I'm in denial, and there's so much drama in the team rn I'm honestly stressed.)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Once the three vigilantes were done handing over Scarecrow’s men to the police, Dick, Stephanie, and Tim made their way back to the Batcave.
As soon as they stepped into the infirmary, they saw Damian unsurprisingly (he had been grounded by Bruce after he was shot as Robin a few days prior), and more surprisingly, Roy.
Dick walked over to his friend, who stood in the infirmary’s hallway. He made sure his footsteps were audible enough for Roy to hear. Roy turned his head to look at Dick for a brief moment before turning back and looking at the room Jason was currently in.
“Thought you were still in Star City.” Were Dick’s first words to the red head. Roy sighed, bone deep tiredness leaking out through that action alone.
“I was, but I came back quite literally less than ten minutes before that fiasco with Scarecrow went down.” The two men stayed silent for a moment. Watching Alfred and Bruce work on Jason’s leg through the glass.
“And Lian?” Dick gently prodded.
“Back at one of the safe houses. I settled her down before I heard what happened to Jason and came here.” Dick nodded, putting a hand on Roy’s shoulder as silent support. Dick knew exactly how it felt to have their significant other be injured in the field. They all did. Well, the older vigilantes knew, maybe not so much for the younger ones.
“And you? How are you holding up?”
Roy sighed again, his gaze never leaving Jason’s unconscious body.
“I’m holding up as best as I can. Lian heard what happened without me realizing. She’s worried out of her mind right now.” Dick dropped his hand from his friend’s shoulder.
“Just be there for her and reassure her. Let her see Jason when he wakes up.” Dick advised the obviously stressed vigilante carefully. But he made sure not to direct him on how to parent. Enough people did that when Mar’i was born, though most of the time it was by accident. That doesn’t even bring in the fact that Lian was older than Mar’i.
“Yeah, okay, thanks.”
They stayed silent after that. Damian, Tim, and Steph came up to stand beside them as they watched a bloodied Jason be stitched up. And Dick now understood why Roy left Lian at a safe house. A child that young should never have to see one of her parents like this.
Eventually, Alfred emerged from the room, letting the door shut with a soft click behind him.
“Master Jason will recover quickly due to his healing factor, but he needs to be on bed rest until tomorrow at least. I trust that you will keep him down?” The butler directed his last sentence to Roy; the man in question gave him an affirmative hum.
“Can we see him now?” Stephanie asked. Alfred nodded.
“Can you lot watch him for a bit? I’m going to get Lian and drive her back here. I don’t want to leave her alone right now.”
They all looked over to the red headed archer.
“Go get your kid, man. We’ll watch over that idiot in there.” Tim spoke as he lightly clapped Roy on the back.
Dick watched as his friend walked away. The room was somber and thick with tension as the archer left.
“Soooo… are we going to question what that dude said back at the warehouse?” Tim asked after a few minutes passed. Cleary sick of how heavy the air was.
“Who said what?” A monotone voice spoke.
Though Dick wouldn’t say to his face right now; Bruce looked like shit. The older man’s eyes had dark bags underneath them. There was no doubt in Dick’s mind that it was from the stress of the night’s events.
“One of Scarecrow’s men cussed us out before asking us if we ‘hired another’.” Reported Stephanie.
Bruce rose a brow as the line on his face made a downward turn.
“Hired another?” Alfred repeated.
“Yup,” Tim popped the P. “Super weird too, burn marks on multiple men that were down when we got there.”
Stephanie and Dick nodded in agreement.
“Don’t forget the broken glass that was slightly scorched.” Steph added on.
“So, there is another villain we have to add onto the roster?” Damien asked, his expression none too happy. Truly the mirror image of Bruce as always, Dick thought.
“They may not necessarily be a villain. It seems like they were only aiming for Scarecrow’s men. There weren’t any marks near the scorch spots where Jason was pinned down. Not to mention that everyone who was shot was hit directly in the middle of their backs. Whoever did it has amazing aim.” Dick analyzed his memories as he spoke.
There were so many weird components to the situation. And Dick knew that if it ticked him off that they knew next to nothing about this new person, then it would definitely make Bruce more paranoid than normal.
Speak, or rather think of the devil, and he will speak.
Bruce sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Keep an eye out and tell the others. It’s too early to tell if this newcomer is a friend or foe. If you see anything suspicious, you report it immediately.” No one refuted the man’s orders as some hummed, and others nodded.
They took turns after that to visit Jason briefly before going back out to patrol.
As much as they all wanted to stay in, most of Gotham’s villains came out to play in the dark of this city.
Dick looked his brother’s unconscious body over one last time before making his own way back to patrol. Assured by the fact that Roy would most likely be there when the crime lord woke up.
After Roy picked Lian up and drove her back to the mansion, he made sure to put her back to bed in her room in the Wayne Manor. Only once he was sure that his little girl was settled in bed did he go to the infirmary for Jason.
He plopped his body into the chair next to Jason’s bed. Rubbing his face with his hands in the hopes that that action would somehow wash away the stress that he knew was absolutely showing on his face.
Jason suddenly moved to sit up with a groan. Roy shot a hand out to press the other man back onto the bed.
“Nuh-uh. Bed rest until tomorrow at least. Butler’s orders.” Roy joked as Jason looked up at him, eyes riddled with exhaustion.
Roy handed the man a glass of water to sip on. Never requiring a word to know what his boyfriend needed.
The red head placed the cup back onto the table next to the bed once Jason was done drinking.
“I feel like shit.” Jason croaked, and Roy’s lips quirked up.
“That’s what happens when you get shot, Jay.” Jason glared at Roy.
“Where are the others?”
“Went back out to patrol. Duke is asleep right now, Damien’s in his room, and Alfred is doing something who knows where.” Roy said softly as he gently ran a hand through Jason’s hair. Continuing the motions when Jason leaned into his hand.
“And that weird laser?”
Roy’s face scrunched up in confusion for a moment. Then the archer realized what the younger man meant.
“You mean the weapon who took down Scarecrow’s men before help arrived.”
“So, is it a meta?” Roy shook his head.
“We don’t know, it could be a meta, but it could also be a person with a weapon. We’re positive that it was a person that made the shots. Considering the fact that the others couldn’t find anything when they were cleaning up the area. They’re wondering if you remember anything.”
Jason’s face was one of pure concentration. It was clear to Roy that the younger man was having trouble collecting his thoughts. After a few moments, Jason opened his mouth, then closed it again. A few more seconds went by before Jason spoke.
“I thought it was Clark at first if I’m being honest. I realized it wasn’t, obviously.” Jason paused for a second and then continued his recollection of the night’s events. “Um… I remember a bright blue light, glass breaking and one of the men in front of me was on the ground in less than a second. Laser beam of some sort. After that, everything became hazy and blurry.”
“Is there anything else you remember? Barbara said that you had something to tell us when you got back.” Jason’s face lit up in recognition, his eyes widening, and Roy wasn’t quick enough to stop the younger man from shooting up like a catapult this time.
“I’m going to take that as sign that you saw something?” The archer said with a breathy laugh as he rose a brow.
“Yes! I saw something all right. Any chance you have one of the comms on you?”
Roy pulled his phone out. “This work?”
“Yeah, that works. Can you call Barbara?” Roy dialed the number.
“Hello? Roy?” Barbara’s voice rang out. Jason pulled the phone closer to him.
“Hey Barbie, can you make sure everyone can hear me?” Both men could hear Barbara typing on her keyboard.
“Everyone on patrol can hear you now R.H.”
“Okay, all of you listen up. I was going to tell y’all when I got back, but you know how that went. There was a kid, and before any of you say anything, be quiet and shut up until I’m done talking. This kid couldn’t have been older than thirteen, I found him on one of the taller abandoned buildings in Crime Alley, and I’m practically a hundred percent positive that that child came out of a Lazarus Pit. White streak of hair, Lazarus green spotting his eyes. Exactly like mine.”
There was a stunned silence. Even Roy was too shocked to speak.
“Are you sure it was the Lazarus Pit?” Dick’s voice came through the phone, slightly shaky and unsure. Roy still couldn’t find his voice. Most of them were in the same state as him. Lazarus Pits were dangerous. All of them knew that. Mix in a child that was younger than Jason was when the crime lord was thrown in? The situation reeked of a troublesome mess and a migraine to last a lifetime.
“Positive, Dickwing,” Jason continued to stare at the phone in Roy’s hand. The silence almost sickening.
“What do we do, Batman?” Tim asked and Roy would have snorted in normal circumstances. Tim probably hated uncomfortable silences more than any single one of them did.
“We keep an eye out. Watch the boy from a distance. Bring him in if necessary.” Bruce ordered.
“Is that all, Red Hood?” Asked Barbara.
“Yeah, that’s it. Oh! And if any of you end up having to get close, be careful of the dog the kid has. The dog is small, but even from a distance I could see how sharp those teeth were.” Jason warned.
“We’ll be careful. Arsenal, make sure Red Hood gets some actual rest.” Bruce asked, voice deep and as monotonous as ever.
“You’ve got it.” Roy assured as he eased a glaring Jason back down onto the bed. The phone hung up with a beep and Roy slipped the object back into his pocket.
“You’re not going to let me up, are you?” Roy chuckled. “No, no I’m not. If it were anyone other than Alfred who gave the order than maybe I would help with an escape. But as it stands, Alfred directly asked me to keep you down.” He smirked as Jason groaned, resisting the temptation to laugh at his boyfriend’s peril.
“You suck!” With Jason’s groaned grumble, Roy couldn’t stop himself from laughing. The younger man was ever the drama queen. His laughter earned a smack to the face from a flying hand. The action only made Roy laugh harder. Causing the archer the wrap an arm around his stomach as he tried to breathe. Tears streamed down the archer’s face as his laughter came out with every other breath.
“Stop laughing at me, you dork! I thought boyfriends were supposed to be concerned when their significant other was stuck in a hospital bed,” Jason huffed while crossing his arms.
“Pfft, you and I both know it would take a lot more than a couple of bullets to truly keep you down, and if you stay in this bed, I’ll let Lian come and see you as soon as she wakes up.” Roy smiled softly as Jason’s eyes widened.
“Using your kid against me, Harper? Low blow.” Jason grumbled, visibly fighting the urge to yawn. Roy stood up and cupped Jason’s cheek. The other man looked up at him with a raised brow. Roy then leaned down and kissed Jason’s head before whispering, “Sleep for now love,” and then giving Jason a peck on the lips.
Jason lips made an upward turn as his body began to relax. Reassured by Roy’s presence, the gunslinger fell into a mostly restful sleep.
What was with Harley being woken up so rudely? This now made two times that he has been ripped from sleep with something jamming into his side. The teenager grumbled a few unsavory words in annoyance. All he wanted was some rest. Was that-
“Gah!” Harley yelped as Peter’s elbow hit his shoulder sharply. Harley scooted back just in the nick of time as another flailing limb came flying at him. His eyes locked onto Peter’s body as the boy began to grasp at his throat, and Harley was painfully reminded of what happened between the Green Goblin and his friend. He had watched the footage that was saved that night while everyone (including himself) was out searching for the missing mutate.
Harley was stuck, frozen in place, as Peter’s body thrashed. He didn’t know what to do. Nightmares came with the job description of a vigilante, but what was he supposed to do with a vigilante with enhanced- more like superhuman- strength.
Then the choking sounds rattled the air.
Harley no longer had time to think of the consequences of being hit with Peter’s strength. Not when the boy was choking himself out trying to escape someone that wasn’t there.
The mechanic swiftly moved back towards Peter and grabbed his hands. At first, he tried to gently stop Peter from hurting himself further. When his actions proved to be futile, Harley forcibly pried at Peter’s hands. The action seemed to work for a moment before Harley’s body was tossed onto its back, and his access to air began to wane significantly.
Here’s the so-called consequences, Harley thought bitterly as he tried to push Peter’s still unconscious body off him. The only accomplishment Harley earned was Peter tightening his grip on Harley’s neck. Somewhere off to the side, Harley could hear Nova whimpering.
“Peter!” He gasped. “Wake up! I’m not him! I’m not Osborn!” He attempted to shout through gritted teeth. His body was surely turning blue from the lack of oxygen. He was lightheaded and Peter was still fighting invisible ghosts. Harley mentally sent a heartfelt apology to Peter as he struggled against his grip.
Harley then angled his left leg to kick Peter’s stomach. He kicked upwards and Peter dodged the kick, but Harley had anticipated that Peter’s senses would protect him. As soon as Harley felt that he could drive enough force into his right leg, he kicked Peter with all the speed and might that he could muster.
Peter was thrown off Harley and when he hit the floor his body made an audible thump on the floor, his breathing was heavy, and he finally, finally, opened his eyes.
Harley’s own eyes widened as he looked into the other teen’s eyes.
All Harley could play in his head was a repeated what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck!? Because Peter’s eyes were glowing a bright green.
“What. The. Fuck.” Harley whispered, his body heaving to gain even an ounce of oxygen.
“What have I done? What have I done?” Peter spoke quietly, horrified by his own unconscious actions. Lifting his hands to cover his mouth in shock.
After a few moments of awful silence, Harley found his voice at last.
He was so afraid. What could he do other than throwing punches and kicking with almost all of his strength. (He was careful to not hit the Guardians and his own.) Though it proved to be all for naught.
The Mad Titan managed to wrap his giant hand around Peter’s throat and slam him into the ground. Peter let out a grunt of pain as the ground cracked underneath him. The Mad Titan’s hand tightened and Peter’s senses screamed. But then the world wasn’t right. It was… shifting, changing.
Suddenly, Peter was no longer on Titan, he was on Earth, right underneath Norman Osborn’s hand. Peter grasped at the Green Goblin’s hands on his throat, then he threw Osborn off, his own hands coming down to strangle the villain. What once was fear, turned into a searing anger. The anger from the knowledge of what the Green Goblin has done to Peter, what he has taken from Peter.
“Peter!” A stray voiced shouted. The sound came from below him, but Norman wasn’t shouting. The crazed man was laughing as Peter continued to shove the man’s body into the ground by his neck. The man’s psychotic laugh only made Peter angrier. Rage overtaking every other emotion, controlling every action.
“Wake up! I’m not him! I’m not Osborn!”
His senses told him an attack was being aimed at his stomach. Peter dodged the attack, but in his weakened state, he did not have the energy to avoid the second attack. The attack threw him off of his opponent beneath him, though it was a considerably weaker kick than Osborn would normally deliver. Even the Norman Osborn from his universe delivered stronger attacks than that.
His back hit the ground, and it became clear why reality was so strange. It wasn’t reality at all, it was a dream. An awful, terrible, horrifying dream.
Peter’s breathing was labored, his vision tinged with green. Peter looked up and saw Harley a few feet in front of him. His friend had a shocked look on his face, then Harley whispered “What. The. Fuck.”
The vigilante thought that the worst part of this night was his nightmare. But when Peter saw the hand shaped bruises forming on Harley’s neck, he realized what he had done.
In his unconscious, frightened, angered state, Peter attacked his friend, his best friend. The only person he has left, and Peter blindly attacked him.
“What have I done? What have I done?” Peter whispered, horrified by his own actions. He brought his hands up to cover his mouth. He didn’t know what he was feeling. Shock? Fear? Horror? Terror? Grief? What emotions could describe the hurricane inside him?
The green that plagued his vision faded; his rage left with it.
“Peter it’s going to be okay-”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” They spoke at the same time.
Tears made their way down Peter’s face. His hands, that were still covering his mouth, were wet from the forming river of salty water.
Harley’s eyes were overcome with sadness. The teen scooted closer to him and brought Peter into a gentle, reassuring hug.
“I’m here, I’m not leaving. I would never leave you, I’m okay, I promise,” Harley whispered into Peter’s ear. His words caused Peter to sob. The mutate gripped Harley’s shirt with such vigor that it looked like the fabric would tear.
Nova nosed her way into the hug. Snuggling between the two teenagers now that the mostly one-sided fight was over. Making both boys laugh. Once the little puppy was settled, she huffed and plopped onto Peter’s lap. Peter looked up at Harley, mouth opening to apologize for the umpteenth time. Harley put a hand on Peter’s cheek, effectively silencing him.
“Don’t speak just yet, and don’t even think about blaming yourself. This is not your fault. Trauma responses are normal, Peter. Especially after what you’ve been through. After what Osborn has done to you. Sure, I might bruise, but I’m okay, I’m safe.” Harley murmured, voice reassuring and forgiving.
“I still am sorry,” Peter replied quietly. Even though his heart swelled with appreciation and warmth, he would still blame himself for the bruises Harley would carry for the next few days.
With Harley’s hand still on his cheek, brushing away wandering tears with his thumb, Peter leaned in and gave the other boy his most grateful smile.
“You promised that you would never leave me. That goes both ways, you know?” Peter mumbled, and Harley silently nodded while a grin spread across his face. They leaned their foreheads against each other; savoring this moment of peace. Harley grunted when he was met with a wet nose poking his jaw. Peter laughed as Nova got sick of being ignored.
“Really?” Harley asked, exasperated. He picked the little black fur ball and let her climb onto his shoulder while her face nuzzled his neck.
Peter continued to giggle at his friend’s plight. Nova had made herself part of their duo, now trio, rather quickly, and he was honestly glad. She had amazing timing, whether it was for comfort or comedic effect, she was just there. He just wishes this peace could last.
A somber look washed over Peter’s expression. This peace wouldn’t last forever. Not with their lack of, well… everything. They had no money, and this place was a safety hazard. This entire god damned city was a safety hazard.
But for now? In this moment? They were at peace, they could rest. Though neither of them would be going back to sleep, they would rest.
The problems of their new reality could be dealt with when the sun was in the sky.
Harley looked at Peter as the vigilante played with the puppy running back and forth across the room. The sun was beginning to rise, and they both knew they would have to brave the day. Harley sighed, there was no need to pack anything up, they hadn’t unpacked anything the previous night. So, they were set to go. They just needed to decide on where they were going. Harley whistled to get Peter’s attention.
Peter’s head snapped over to him. “Yes?” Peter asked sheepishly.
Harley smirked and shook his head. “When you’re done playing with Nova, where do you think we should go?” Peter’s face scrunched up, exemplifying once again how young they had become.
“I was thinking of the library. The city’s big enough to have a good-sized public library somewhere. I think our only problem is finding where one is.” Peter shrugged as Nova ran between his legs. Harley nodded, his chin in his hand, and his elbow propped up on his leg. He chewed the inside of his cheek, deep in thought.
The library was a promising idea, the best choice they had. Big cities tended to have computers. And with their skills, Harley and Peter could set themselves up if given the time.
“What’re you thinking of doing when we get there?”
“Nova, get away from that!” Peter demanded as the fur ball got too close to a molding corner. “I was thinking of setting up our identities. Which you already knew. But I was also thinking about setting up fake guardians.” The boy said nonchalantly as he had to manhandle Nova away from the corner.
“Fake guardians? You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Harley groaned and Peter grinned. Though that grin wasn’t sincere. The hustle of creating their own identities would be annoying. Add in people that they couldn’t prove that existed? That was just a flat-out hindrance to their already struggling mental health.
“Yes Harley, fake guardians. People that do not exist. Laws still exist here, and I refuse to be put in the system.” Peter grumbled. Harley could agree with that sentiment, still didn’t mean he had to like the process of staying under the radar though.
“I think I’ve worn Nova out enough, you ready to go?” Peter asked as he set Nova down on the junction between his neck and shoulder. Harley stood up and stretched while Nova tried to nose her way under Peter’s shirt, though she eventually gave up and huffed while plopping herself down. Apparently, she preferred having skin to fur contact.
“We stickin’ to the ground or the roofs?” Harley asked as he slung his backpack over his shoulder; Peter copied the movement with his own bag. Then they made their way to the fire escape.
“Roofs if we can, but I know we’ll have to hit the ground at some point.” Harley hummed, being high up gave them the advantage. Plus, the high ground would help them find their way.
Peter yanked the broken window that led to the fire escape open.
“After you,” Peter said with a teasing lilt. He even did partial bowing motion when Harley climbed through the small opening. While Peter was navigating himself and Nova, Harley examined the state of the stairs. He grimaced when he saw the rusting, rotting metal.
“Nova- could you not? Ow!” Harley turned towards the commotion behind him to see Nova refusing to leave, and either nipping Peter’s shoulder with her sharp teeth, or scratching him and jumping back into the abandoned building. Harley rose a brow at the… Harley didn’t even know what to call what was happening in front of him. A scuffle maybe?
He sighed as he made his way back over to the window. Though, when Harley got closer, Nova stopped struggling against Peter’s hold. Peter gave her an affronted look and threw his arms out in exasperation.
“What is this? Favoritism?” Peter asked incredulously.
“I don’t think so. She prefers being by you. Let me try something.”
Harley moved back towards the stairs that led to the roof. Nova growled and retreated more into the building. Then he walked over to the stairs that went down, and Nova’s growls quieted, and her posture relaxed.
“So… she doesn’t want us going to the roofs?” Peter asked, perplexed.
“I guess, and I say we trust her. This is her world for all we know.” He shrugged.
“True. Now are you going to cooperate with me, Nova?” Peter asked damn near lovingly. Nova yipped gleefully and jumped up into Peter’s awaiting arms. Once she was settled and stuck to his shoulder, they both looked at the sky. Even though the buildings around them had multiple floors, they still were on the third floor, so they could see a good bit of their surroundings. The city was still surprisingly gloomy despite the rising sun. The sky on the other hand was a beautiful orange; casting rays of Iight into corners once dark.
Harley looked over to Peter to comment on the pretty sky, but then he paused. Peter seemed so content. The white streak in his hair blew slowly side to side with the morning breeze. His green brownish eyes lit up against the contrasting orange.
Sure, the light also highlighted hollowed out cheeks and other various skeletal features, but it was still Peter.
Peter noticed his staring after a few minutes passed by.
“What? Do I have something on my face?”
Harley shook his head with a smile and gathered up his usual confidence and flirtatious personality.
“Nah, I was just looking at you’re pretty boy face. The new hair and eyes suit you.”
“Pretty boy? Really?” Peter scoffed, though the reddening of his cheeks displayed his embarrassment.
“You should really be used to me saying things like that by now,” Harley teased. The only response was a shove to the shoulder and Peter making his way down the fire escape.
“Hey, Harley?” Peter called out.
“Yeah?” Harley responded as he avoided stepping on a particularly unstable looking step.
“Have you ever heard of a city named Gotham? Specifically in New Jersey?” Harley looked down at Peter.
“Gotham? Never heard of it. And who names a city Gotham? Sounds like one hell of a dreary place,”
Peter gave him a deadpan look. Harley gained a disbelieving expression.
“We’re in Gotham, in New Jersey, aren’t we?” Harley asked, exasperated.
“Mhm, don’t sound too disappointed. It can’t be that bad, right?”
“That’s what everyone says before it is, in fact, that bad.”
“Fair. Anyways, I was passing through ‘Old Gotham’ earlier, and I thought I saw a library on my way here.” Peter said as he waited for Harley to get off the fire escape behind him.
“‘Old Gotham’? Seriously?” Harley hopped off the last step.
“Yeah, I know, but we are in Crime Alley I think, and I woke up in Old Gotham Cemetery or something. I think it was Old Gotham Graveyard actually.”
Harley pointed a finger at Peter.
“You… woke up in a cemetery?” Peter swatted Harley’s hand away.
“Technically, I woke up underneath the graveyard. I woke up in that green pit of liquid, remember?” Harley remembered all right. He remembered Peter telling him that it felt like being dipped in fire.
Harley shook the unwanted thoughts away.
“How far is Old Gotham from here?” Harley trudged forwards.
“If we speed walk, I would say about half a day.”
Harley looked down at himself and then back up at Peter.
“These bodies are definitely not meant to be walking for that long. And your body looks like it’s gonna keel over. No offense.”
Peter shrugged, “Nothing new, I was always hungry in our world. I was barely eating enough keep the fat on me. And you and I both know you could walk for days on end without supplies. Guess what, we’ve got supplies.”
Harley frowned. Though it was a known problem that a lot of the enhanced, mutates, and mutants had an enhanced metabolism that they couldn’t afford to keep up with. It was a problem that Harley hated.
Tony was really one of the only reasons Harley and his family didn’t go hungry because of low income. So, Harley despised the fact that Peter pretty much went hungry everyday because of his own metabolism.
“Stop thinking whatever it is you’re thinking. It wasn’t your fault that my body demanded a lot.”
“Fine, I’ll stop thinking about your people starving because the government refused to help them, but only if you finally tell me about the time you sucker punched the Captain in the face.” Peter snorted, and Harley’s negative thoughts were shelved in the back of his mind for later. He really did want to hear this story; Peter has been withholding it from him for long enough.
As they walked, Peter told him about the time the Rogues first came back to the States. He told him how after the Avengers Civil War, and after the fight with Toomes, during one of his internship days with Tony, the Rogues showed up.
Peter told Harley that he had seen the footage from the bunker in Siberia. That he had watched as the two super soldiers ganged up on Tony and beat and stranded him in the cold bunker.
So, when the Captain and his crew showed their faces when Peter was there, Peter’s first reaction was to storm Steve Rogers’ and punch him right in the jaw. Leaving the Captain with a dark bruise for a week. Which was impressive in of itself, and in Harley’s opinion, made Peter a whole lot hotter than he already was.
“You called him Captain Righteousness and Captain Asshole?!” Harley couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
“I was not exactly thinking clearly to be fair.”
“Sure sweetheart, sure.” Harley shook his head, chuckling in between breaths before being abruptly stopped by running into Peter’s back.
“We’re here!” Peter said cheerfully.
Harley looked up to see a sizable two-story building. There were two wooden double doors above a flight of stairs, and the outside walls were white.
“Are we going in?” Harley asked, and Peter turned his head towards him.
“Yeah, we’re going in.” Peter took a deep breath in and marched up the stairs.
They walked into the library and, low and behold, there were computers set up all around. Harley then followed Peter over to the receptionist desk. There was a woman with pale skin and auburn hair sitting in a wheelchair.
“Hi! How can I hel-” The woman paused, her eyes widening as she looked at the two boys.
Harley and Peter turned towards each other and exchanged worried glances. Was there something wrong with the two teenagers? Were they not supposed to be here? No, Harley thought. There were other teenagers in the library right now. So, what was this lady’s problem?
“Ma’am, are you alright?” Harley asked, and the woman shook herself out of her stupor.
“Oh. Oh! Yes, I am perfectly fine. How can I help you boys?” The lady asked kindly.
“We were just wondering if there were any restrictions on using the computers. You see, we’re new around here. Still learning the ropes and how they work, ya know?” Harley took over the speaking. He had noticed that Peter’s eyes had narrowed the slightest amount at the woman’s reaction. Whether that was from Peter’s senses, or his own intuition, Harley didn’t know.
“There aren’t any restrictions. As long as you can log in and save the work you have done, then you’re all set. Anything else?” The woman smiled, but Harley, and most likely Peter as well, noticed how strained the smile was.
“No, nothing else Ma’am,” Harley nodded as he steered Peter away from the woman and towards an open computer.
“What is it?” Harley whispered.
“The woman asked for someone named Dick to get here as fast as possible right after we turned away.” Peter murmured. Harley kept his face neutral as they sat down.
“Should I be concerned?” Peter shook his head.
“No, if the woman was planning something, I doubt that she would do it with so many witnesses.” Both boys put their bags down and sat down in front of the desk.
“If you say so.” Harley watched as Peter turned the computer on.
“How exactly do you plan on getting an account suddenly?” Asked Harley.
“I don’t,” Peter grinned as he plugged in a usb stick. The screen went dark for a moment and then lit up with thousands of numbers running across the screen before opening to the home page.
“How did you? -”
“Some simple code I had set up years ago but never got the chance to use.” Peter shrugged.
“I can’t tell if I should be proud or in thralled,” Harley mused.
“Your words will not affect me, Mr. Keener,” Peter joked, creating a moment of tension neither knew what to do with.
The moment was broken when Peter whipped his head around to face the entrance doors. A muscular man with black hair, blue eyes, and pale skin walked in. The man’s face frustrated Harley, as he felt an inkling of remembrance, though his mind wouldn’t match the face to a name.
When Harley glanced at Peter’s face, he froze, just like the night before, there was a horrified expression. But this expression was so much worse.
Peter’s eyes were empty. There was nothing but pain behind his eyes. Harley’s mouth opened to ask what had happened when Peter whispered a strangled, broken word.
“Dad?”
Notes:
I'm alive bitches! Somehow I made this, I'll finish proof reading it later, otherwise, enjoy!
Chapter 7: That's My Dad
Notes:
Happy New Year!
So the ao3 curse might've hit me. My Lolo had an accident so now we're his "caretakers" and I'm in school+swim so my schedule currently is absolutely completely fucked.
But I managed to scrounge this up, so enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe!
Put him back in that god-awful pit. Make him fight the Mad Titan again. He doesn’t care. Just make this feeling stop!
His dad was dead, so why was he standing here in front of Peter?
The receptionist pointed her head in their direction, and for a brief moment, Peter hoped that he just mistook the man for his late father. But when the man turned around to face the teenagers… it was true, Richard Parker was standing in front of Peter.
With a heaving chest, Peter snatched the USB stick out of the computer and then grabbed Harley’s hand.
“We need to leave.” Peter said as he began tugging Harley towards the exit. Not even giving his friend a glance.
“Peter- Peter, wait!” Harley tried to whisper, but Peter wasn’t having it. They needed to get out of this building and as far away from that man as they could.
Peter could hear Harley grunt behind him as he pulled the other along. Suddenly, a hand wrapped around the wrist that was holding Harley’s hand; making him let go of the other boy's hand while Harley began dragging Peter down the closest alley. Despite Peter’s uncontrollable emotions, he was able to spot the determination and wariness on his friend’s face.
“Hey!” A man’s voice shouted, and Harley sprinted towards the alley before realizing he no longer had Peter’s hand in his. But Peter couldn’t care less. He recognized the voice that had yelled out. How could he not? Peter’s listened to that voice a thousand times; whether it was him replaying the memory of the man saying goodbye for the last time, or it was the videos of the small moments their family had so many years ago.
Footsteps were making their way towards him, from both the front and the back of his body. He could pinpoint the exact second he heard the footsteps from behind, make it to him first.
“Hey...” The voice said hesitantly - Peter wouldn’t dare put a name to that voice. If only to maintain what was left of his waning sanity (even though he knows, he knows who that voice belongs to).
“Back off, old man!” Harley hissed through his teeth while using his body as a barrier between the man and Peter.
“I don’t mean any harm-”
“Then what do you want?” Peter snapped at the man as he finally found his voice. The vigilante turned around to face the man and immediately regretted it, but he refused to let Harley stand alone.
The man sighed and looked at the pair of teenagers with… grief? Sadness? Pity? Peter honestly couldn’t tell, too busy holding back his own fragile mentality. Trying so hard not to just break down into a crying mess of sobs and tears.
“I work with the GCPD on occasion-” the boys shot the man a confused look. “Gotham City Police Department- and there was a call for… two scrawny teenagers, on the run from CPS. Does that ring a bell for either of you?” The man asked, but Peter could hear the man’s heart racing. Not to mention Peter’s senses were warning him of the blatant lie?
(That was certainly a new ability that he would have to look into later.)
“No, that doesn’t ring a bell at all, sir.” Peter responded. The man rose a brow and directed his focus to Peter.
“Are you sure? Because I’m fairly certain that you two fit the description exactly.”
“How about you tell us the truth? Kinda weird for a grown ass man to be followin’ a coupl’a teenagers around, don’t ya think?” Harley sneered, picking up on Peter’s demeanor. His southern accent coming in heavy.
The man’s eyes widened, then slightly narrowed at the two.
“Fine, I might not be telling the truth, but most people also don’t tend to run at the sight of someone they’ve never met. So, tell me, why did you run?”
Harley silently gulped next to him, and Peter took the reigns.
“You look like someone we used to know,” Peter spoke while tilting his head up. He wasn’t going to back down. He couldn’t. Not with the real threat of CPS separating him and Harley if this man brought them in. Plus, it was easier to lie with the truth instead of keeping up with a cover story.
“And that man caused you two to run at the sight of him?”
Shit, Peter needed to derail this train of thought. “We were mugged, got our stuff back though. So, you don’t have to worry.” Peter lied easily- there goes not having a lie for a cover story. The man sighed again.
“Listen, I wasn’t expecting you two to run, but the Red Hood told us about a kid that isn’t from Gotham roaming the streets. Now, that wouldn’t cause any sirens to go off on a normal basis, but that white streak in your hair means you’ve been through some things. Maybe a certain green pit? Is this starting to sound familiar?”
Peter’s heart began to race, and Harley’s heart was reacting the same way.
“I- We have no idea what you’re talking about.” Peter stammered. Body tensing with the intent to run.
“Wait!” The man whispered while surveying the area. “This isn’t the place to be talking about this. Can we go somewhere more private? My friend has an empty office in the library.”
Peter glanced at Harley. As much as Peter didn’t want to go with this man, he really didn’t have a choice. The teens knew nothing about the pit, and Peter would rather find out what it did to him sooner rather than later. And if the man ever tried anything? Peter and Harley would send him packing to kingdom come.
“Alright! Let’s get this over with!” Harley’s tone was cheerfully sarcastic as he clapped his hands together.
The walk back into the library was tense to say the least. The silence was painful, and Peter could not wait to leave.
Once they entered the library, they passed the receptionist, and the man nodded in her direction before leading them past the desk and into a small office in the back. The teens sat next to each other on a couch that sat against the wall as the man closed the door for privacy.
“So, what do you two know about that blasted green pit?” The man asked as he settled himself down into the chair across from them.
Dick was wrapping up his patrol when he spotted the destroyed windows in one of Gotham's many buildings. He jumped down and observed the area while being careful of the glass littering the floor.
If the vigilante wasn’t concerned before, he was now.
Along with the shattered glass on the floor, there was claw marks on the walls and an indent in the ceiling that suspiciously resembled the body of a human… or rather the body of one of the Talons.
He reached up for the communicator in his ear.
“Hey, Oracle? We might have a problem.”
“What type of problem?” Her voice rang out.
“A Talon type problem. Looks like the Court is at it again. The building I’m in is a fucking mess. Whoever the Talon, or Talons, were fighting put up one hell of a fight.”
“Talons? Crap, don’t the Talons hunt people that come out of the Pit? At least that’s what I’m seeing from B’s notes.”
Dick shrugged even though no one could see him. “Hell if I know. But they never came after Red Hood, so why would they go after whoever this person is?” He said, not connecting whatever dots Barbara was laying down in front of him.
“No, Nightwing, I’m talking about the kid that came out of the Pit. The kid that Jason was talking about, remember?”
Dick cursed under his breath. “Yeah, I remember now.” They would have to move the kid up their list of priorities if the Court was after them.
“I’ll keep an even closer look out for the kid then. Just tell Duke to do the same when he starts patrolling, alright?” He heard a hum of confirmation and then cut off the comms before finishing his patrol. The sun was beginning to rise, which meant he had to get going back to Blüdhaven and put Nightwing to sleep so Dick Grayson could work. Thank god he didn’t work at the station today nor tomorrow on Sunday. A blessing, truly.
Once he started making his way back to Blüdhaven, he made the split decision to head back to the Wayne mansion. Dick felt bad for neglecting his city the past few days, but somehow crime rates were going down over there and skyrocketing in Gotham. Though, it was Gotham, so was anyone really surprised?
He entered the Batcave and changed into civilian clothing- a simple black t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants- and then headed to the infirmary where his little brother was supposed to be resting. He knocked on the door before opening it when he heard “Come in!”
To Dick’s surprise, Jason was alone. He had assumed Roy was going to be with his brother. So where was the archer?
Jason scrunched his face when he caught sight of Dick.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” His brother questioned, and Dick shook his head.
“Nah, not until Monday. Where’s Roy?”
“Getting Lian up.” They fell into a semi-comfortable silence after that. And honestly? Dick needed to find his tongue, because if this felt bad for him, then it definitely felt bad for Jason.
“So, Kori has M-” A phone began to vibrate in Dick’s pocket. When he pulled it out, he saw an ‘O’ for the profile picture.
“The hell?” Said Jason as he peaked over Dick’s phone. Dick paid no mind to his brother as he answered the phone.
“O, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. I’m in the library and I think I just found our missing Pit kid.”
Jason and Dick looked at each other, looked at the phone in Dick’s hand, and then looked at each other again.
“Are you positive?” Dick whispered.
“Positive, but he’s got a friend with him, and they both seem incredibly wary. Dick, you need to get over here. They look ready to flee at any second.”
“Okay, okay I’ll get going. Be there in five or so minutes. Maybe fifteen?”
“Make it ten at the latest.” Was all she said before hanging up.
“Alrighty, you’ve got your hands full. Go, make sure that kid’s safe.” Dick nodded and gave his little brother a quick hug before bolting gracefully out of the infirmary and to the garage.
He ran to his black Audi SUV and didn't even bother strapping himself in, before reversing and practically drifting out of the garage.
You know how he was supposed to make it to the library in a ten minute drive?
He made it in eight.
Dick parked the car half-hazardously (whose he fooling? That parking job probably violated multiple laws somehow), and power walked up the steps to the library entrance.
He checked himself in the reflection of the glass doors for a second, took a deep breath, and then opened the door and walked in.
As soon as Dick stepped through the door, Barbara waved him over.
"Where?" He asked quietly.
"The two kids over by the computers by the fantasy section."
Dick looked over and spotted the two kids easily. One had dirty blonde hair, the other had brown hair with the distinct white stripe that the Pit tends to give after you've taken a dip. Though Dick didn't see the dog Jason had warned them about.
The kids were easy to spot, but honestly, if Dick wasn't specifically looking for them, he wouldn't have seen them.
It was a sad sight to see. These kids were tiny, malnourished really, and they were making themselves smaller on purpose.
As the kid from the Pit made eye contact with him, Dick nearly stumbled back into Barbara's desk from the sheer amount of fear that shot through the kid's eyes.
Not a moment later the boy snatched something from the computer, grabbed his friend's wrist, and ran out of the library with impressive speed for someone his size.
All Dick could do was blink while his brain caught up to reality; once it did, he took off after the kids.
"Hey!" He shouted. The blonde kid sprinted towards a nearby alley before realizing his friend had stopped moving with him.
Dick took the chance for what it was and sprinted faster than the blonde boy could to the kid that came out of the Pit.
"Hey..." Dick said quietly. Now that he was here, he didn't really know what to say. These kids were obviously afraid of him- no, not afraid, it was something else, something Dick couldn't put a name too.
The blonde boy finally reached them and shoved the Pit kid behind him.
"Back off, old man!" The boy snarled, and damn, Dick needed to find his vocal cords.
"I don't mean any harm-"
"Then what do you want?" The brown haired boy snapped, stepping out from behind his friend's back. The boy's eyes widened, and Dick was left confused by the pure grief that was splintered across the child's expression. He could feel his face changing into an expression that showed his heartbreak for these kids. They had obviously been through a lot to get here like this. Whether "this" was physically, mentally, or emotionally.
Dick had to take a deep breath in to refocus on the situation at hand and to come up with a believable lie.
"I work with the GCPD on occasion-" He cut himself off at the befuddled befuddled looks the boys gave each other. "Gotham City Police Department- and there was a call for... two scrawny teenagers, on the run from CPS. Does that ring a bell for either of you?" He asked, it probably wasn't the most believable lie, but it would have to do for now.
"No, that doesn't ring a bell at all, sir." The brunet responded.
"Are you sure? Because I'm fairly certain that you two fit the description exactly."
"How about you tell us the truth? Kinda weird for a grown ass man to be followin' a coupl’a teenagers around, don’t ya think?" The blonde one shot back, and Dick eyes widened at being discovered so fast.
He also clocked the southern accent immediately. That might make this situation a bit more difficult. Two kids far from home roaming the streets of Gotham on their own? Yeah, none of this is adding up to a positive sum of how these.
Dick grit his teeth. These kids also shouldn't have been able to see through his lies. He's not only a cop, he was raised by fucking Batman! "Fine, I might not be telling the truth, but most people also don’t tend to run at the sight of someone they’ve never met. So, tell me, why did you run?”
He could see both boys tense the second he questioned them.
“You look like someone we used to know,” the Pit kid spoke while lifting his head up to meet Dick’s eyes. Almost like the kid was challenging him, or daring him to say the wrong thing. Even though Dick had no idea what that wrong thing was.
“And that man caused you two to run at the sight of him?” He asked.
Dick could see the boy panic when his eyes widened.
“We were mugged, got our stuff back though. So, you don’t have to worry.” The brunet said; Dick could see right through the lie though.
Then a new idea for how to approach these kids popped into his head. Let's see how giving them information worked to convince them to talk to him.
“Listen, I wasn’t expecting you two to run, but the Red Hood told us about a kid that isn’t from Gotham roaming the streets. Now, that wouldn’t cause any sirens to go off on a normal basis, but that white streak in your hair means you’ve been through some things. Maybe a certain green pit? Is this starting to sound familiar?”
Both of the boys tensed in surprise and probably suspicion.
“I- We have no idea what you’re talking about.” The kid from the Pit stammered. Both of the boys bodies tensed with the intent to run, and damn, that wasn't the reaction Dick wanted.
“Wait!” Dick whispered while looking at the surrounding area for anyone listening. Once the area was clear he looked at the boys again, and then glanced at the library behind him for a second before making his decision on what to do.
“This isn’t the place to be talking about this. Can we go somewhere more private? My friend has an empty office in the library.” He said, mentally apologizing to Barbara, and hoping she didn't leave anything remotely related or relevant to Oracle in her back office.
The boys had some kind of silent communication for a hot moment before coming to what seemed like a decision of their own.
“Alright! Let’s get this over with!” The blonde boy was clearly being sarcastic as he clapped his hands together. And for some reason that slightly pissed Dick off.
Maybe it was the stress of the past twenty-four hours or something, but this entire encounter felt weird and the blonde was just making Dick feel worse.
Maybe it was the way he was so quick to shut down any attempt that Dick made to speak to the brunet that the brunet didn't initiate himself.
He honestly doesn’t know.
They walked back to the library, and Dick chose to be blissfully ignorant of how tense the air was. Not to mention the awkward silence.
Dick rose a brow at Barbara as they passed her, and she gave a subtle nod in return. Making it clear that it was A-okay to use her office for this discussion.
He led the boys behind her desk and gestured towards the couch in her small office.
The boys were quick to sit down next to each other on the couch- and Dick noted just how close they were to each other as he went to close the door for privacy.
Dick sat in the lounge chair and got comfortable before asking, “So, what do you two know about that blasted green pit?”
The blonde shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth to speak, but Dick cut him off.
"No, I want answers from the one who came out of it."
The boy gave him a nasty glare, which, if he was older, might've actually been threatening.
"How? How do you know I was the one who came out of it?" The brunet boy asked quietly.
If Dick thought the boy was making himself small in the library, then he didn't know what to call this.
The boy was curled into himself; the confidence from earlier all lost to who knows what, and he kept his hands and gaze on his knees.
"Your eyes and hair. The Pit has a few physical side affects sometimes." He said softly.
The man waited for a few minutes for any following questions, but when none came he asked one of his own.
"What's your names? Don't even gotta give me the full ones, just something for me to call you in my head."
"I'm Harley, he's Peter," the blonde- no, Harley answered.
"Okay, Harley and Peter, I can work with that."
Dick stayed quiet for a moment as he thought of a new way to go about this conversation. The two boys were clearly cautious of him (or were they cautious of every adult?).
Honestly, Dick was fed up with this awkward silence. Alright, let's try a different approach then.
"Red Hood tells us you have a dog with you, but I don't see it... anywhere." Was all Dick could say when he heard a surprisingly loud growl come from Peter's jacket.
The boys looked slightly embarrassed, and Peter unzipped his jacket to reveal a small (and Dick meant small) puppy. Like that dog wasn't a dog. It could literally fit in the palm of his hand.
"Oh." Dick stupidly responded; causing the two boys the chuckle slightly.
"Yeah 'oh', I thought I sat on her last night or something." Harley spoke while he gently pet the puppy's head.
"Her name's Nova. She doesn't bite unless you threaten us, or she sees you as a threat really. Also did you really think you sat on her, Harls?" Peter looked as if he was trying not to laugh at his friend.
He was failing horribly.
"Don't laugh at me!" Pale hands were thrown up into the air in exasperation. "That thing is tiny!"
Dick was glad that the two were coming out of their shells bit by itty bit. Who knew - what did Peter say her name was? Nova? - was all it took?
The man watched the teenagers in amusement for a few moments before Peter decided to speak up.
"What are the side effects of the Pit?"
"Why? Having any side effects right now?" Dick said, trying to make a guesstimate about how much he should give away.
"More like attempting to see how much I should give away."
Damn.
Welp, a stalemate like this won't get them anywhere!
"The side effects include the physical side effects as I've told you. Though there are some cases where it can cause Pit Rage or madness. Can also include hallucinations if it gets really bad." The two teens glanced at each other worriedly.
"How would one treat the rage or madness?" It was such a small question, but it gave so much away.
"You can't. Not really at least. For some it helps to have people you trust around you. For others it might never go away or lessen."
And Dick felt sorry for these boys. He truly did. They had no business dealing with all this trauma at such a young age.
Combine trust issues, the Pit, and trauma that will most likely leave you scarred for life? Yeah these kids would never cooperate like how Bruce would want.
"Alright, I know my old man will get mad at me for this, but you two don't trust me - that much was obvious. So I know you definitely won't trust my allies and co-workers to help you. But will you agree to compromise with me?"
This time Harley spoke, leaning just a bit protectively in front of Peter. "Depends on what you've got to offer."
"I offer that I won't take you in, but instead you will check in with the Gotham vigilantes about the Pit. If you agree, we'll leave you alone to live how you want as long as you're not out there committing crimes. You will also need to give up some information on where you popped up from.
"Other than that, do we have a deal?"
Notes:
I am so sorry! I really intended to upload this sooner, and most of it was done! But I didn't feel comfortable writing much more without proper info from the comics, so this will be a bit of a hiatus probably- which again I'm so sorry!
But between school, swim, and the dedication it takes to read that many comics, I simply won't have the time to do quick updates. Not to mention that I was sick for 3 months and then got sick AGAIN at the end of January, which sucked.
So I'll be updating another fic I have which is much easier since for a good portion of the next few chapters I just have to follow a plot line, in the meanwhile if u want to go check it out!
(Also I'll fix any grammar or spelling mistakes later!)
Once again I am dedicated to this fic, I don't feel like screwing it up cuz I didn't read source material! So please be patient with me!
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