Chapter Text
Peter wakes in a jump, he just had a nightmare that he doesn't even remember. ‘Not that I wanted to anyway’ Peter takes a deep breath while he takes in his surroundings.
“Hospital…?” Gotham, his Spidey-sense, his hotel, a fire and– “May…!”
He looks at the bed and there she is. Unconscious, but alive. Peter releases a breath he didn't even realize he was holding.
‘Wait a moment’
Peter is 100% sure he had ended up sleeping on the chair at May's side with his head on the bed, now, he is on the small couch that the room has… At that moment the door to the room opens to reveal Happy.
“Kid. You're awake” He says. Happy was carrying two cups of what he can identify as coffee and hot chocolate (Which Peter assumes is for him. Spiders and caffeine don't do well, he discovered the hard way) and a bag of food, Peter guesses.
“How are you feeling…?”
“Eh, I've been better…” He gives the man what he can manage of a reassuring smile, it probably looks more like a grimace, but Peter is too tired to care.
Happy sighs and gives Peter one of the cups and, yep, hot chocolate. His senses never fail him anyway he does that himself by ignoring them. “There is some food in the bag too, if you want it.” He puts the bag on the couch.
“Thank you, Happy… For– For the food. And for coming” Peter says softly.
Happy gives him the slightest of smiles and a nod “Anytime, kid.”
He sits on the chair on May's side and looks at her for a moment, a look of sadness crossing his face, before sighing and looking at Peter “I'm going to stay for two weeks here with you, then I have to go back to New York, sorry.” He pinches the bridge of his nose “Tony is seeing what he can do to bring you two back to New York, but–” “May's in no state to travel. Yeah, I know. And, if she has even the slightest chance of worsening her state, I don't want to risk it.” Peter states defensively.
“I know, Peter… We weren't planning to.”
“I– I’m sorry… I didn't mean to be rude…”
“Don't worry, kid… You're stressed. Your aunt is in the hospital in a bad condition. You don't need to be strong all the time, you know…” Happy says softly.
He knows he's stressed, but he is Spider-Man for God's sake! He is supposed to be strong and he is in stressful situations all the time!
‘but you shouldn't be in them in the first place. You should be the one protected not the one protecting’ A little voice that sounds suspiciously like Matt whispers in his mind. ‘whatever, he has the power to protect, then he should do it’
“Either way, I shouldn't be rude with you… You're here, helping me, helping us, is more than I could ask for.” Happy sighs “Okay, kid. We also need to discuss your situation.” Peter tilts his head questionally.
“CPS.” shit. His eyes widen in realization.
He has no guardians that are in condition to take care of him “Fuck.” The man doesn't even try to correct his language. “Yes… While I'm here, I don't think they should bother you. But if May doesn't get better enough for us to take you both back to New York…” He trails off
“Then you have to go back and I'm going to be alone…” Peter completes.
Foster care in general is bad. Gotham foster care, though, must be Hell on Earth. “Dammit… So, you're telling me, either May gets better or I will end up on Gotham Foster System?” Happy sighs again (It's becoming a rather common habit today, huh?) and rubs his forehead.
“If it comes to it, Tony is trying to get in contact with some people he knows to make sure you're going to be in a good family… Honestly, if he could do it fast enough, he would try and get temporary guardianship over you, but, then again, we would need to either let May here, or take her back to New York. If it was fast enough…” He mumbled the last part.
“Okay then… We wait two weeks and, if May gets well enough, we're taking her back to New York–" "After all that damn paperwork…” Happy huffs. “–And, if she doesn't…” Peter isn't a big fan of the idea that May isn't going to get better, but it's still an option. “Then Mr. Stark is going to use some… contacts of his so I don't get sent to a ‘bad house’. All that while he's trying to get temporary guardianship over me…?”
“Essentially, yes. Of course it isn't that easy, but that's basically it.” Okay… Peter is officially flabbergasted by what his life had become to be. At this point the universe must be laughing at him, because oh my god, what is his life? First, the hotel he was in, supposedly in one of the most safer areas of Gotham (That area wasn’t attacked for two fucking years), was attacked when he had just left it. If it was just that, you could call him lucky (Kinda, as it was attacked in the first place), but, of course, life couldn't be easy for him, May was inside the hotel AND got hurt during the attack, to the point of being risky going back to NY. ALL THAT on the first day they were in Gotham… Now, he needs to worry about being on Gotham Foster Care for God knows how long. All this shit without considering his Spider-Man duties– Nope, nuh uh, fill that information for a later freak out, now he has enough stuff to worry about.
Yep, the Universe is crackling because of his misery. He's sure of it. And he is, in fact, tempted to laugh with it. Better than crying, he guesses.
Peter takes a deep breath to not give in to his laughing wishes (He prefers to not be seen as crazy, thank you very much), and takes a sip of his (now only warm) hot chocolate.
“Excuse me?” Both of them turn to the door as a new voice appears “Visitation hours are over in 5 minutes”
“Oh! Thank you for warning us! We will leave in no time” Peter gives the nurse a small smile.
Happy gets up from his place at May's side and walks to the door. “Let's go, kid.” Peter sighs and also gets up, taking the bag with food with him. He walks to May's side and puts his hand on top of hers “Bye May… Get better soon… I will come here again tomorrow, promise” Then he follows Happy to the door and out of the hospital.
“Tony got us in a hotel in the same area the one you were in was.” Happy says while they were walking to his car.
The rest of the drive to the hotel was silent and a little bit awkward, but both of them were way too tired to start a conversation.
The new hotel was pretty much the same as the old one, except this one had a more modern touch to it (Probably one of the reasons Tony chose this one).
When they arrived at their hotel room, Peter had gone directly to his room. He sighed, put his camera and phone on the bedside table and threw himself in the bed. He had half a mind to at least remove his shoes before falling asleep.
•–«🕸🕷🕸»–•
Peter woke up more tired than he was before going to sleep. He didn’t have a nightmare per se, but what happened started catching up with him. He’s extremely tired mentally, and it seems to have affected his body, as he just can’t find it in him to get up.
He manages to pick his phone to check the time and cringes at the brightness of the screen.
4:29 AM
“Not even 5 hours of sleep, huh?” He puts his phone back where it was and sighs.
He knows he shouldn’t stay in bed all day, plus the fact that, if it is way too silent, his mind will want to occupy space. And God knows what she can come up with. He knows that, whatever it is, it definitely won’t be good for him.
By looking at the window he sees that the sun isn’t up yet. Maybe he can see the sunrise? He knows that he will not manage to fall asleep again, so watching the sunrise it is.
He picks up his phone, in case of emergencies, and his camera (Sue him if he’s worried that something can happen to the camera that used to belong to Ben. Last time he got out of a hotel, that hotel got set on fire), he checks for people that could see him and security cameras then starts to climb up the hotel so that he can reach the roof.
Now, you may think that he’s stupid to go watch the sunrise in Gotham, the place that has more clouds and pollution in the air than people. But, despite popular belief, the sunrise can give a beautiful orange color to the skies of Gotham. That’s probably the biggest amount of color that city will see in the day. Of course, it isn’t all the time that this can happen, but that chance is enough of an excuse for him to leave his bed.
Just by being up on the hotel roof is enough to relax him a little, being up gives him a sense of safety and it just feels like a way to get a break from his problems. And the cold helps to ground him, in case he is spiraling.
He sits at the ledge just like last time as he watches the sky, waiting for the first signs of color to appear.
‘Ha… Gotham really does look like New York…’ Right, New York
He's going to be in Gotham for who knows how long, who is going to protect Queens? Maybe he can ask Matt to take care of Queens for a little longer while he's away… And Spider-Man has to make an appearance. If Spider-Man isn't in New York at the same time Peter Parker leaves New York, things start getting a little suspicious. Plus, if Spider-Man clearly isn't in New York, his rogues might want to cause more trouble than normal. Then he needs to, somehow, go back to NY some days so that Spider-Man doesn't just disappear.
“God, this is such a headache…”
At least for this week everything is already planned, as he already knew he was not going to be in the city. Now he needs to extend his plans indefinitely and make appearances as Spidey.
‘All that headache could have been evicted if you only had listened to your Spidey-Sense’ that little voice whispered.
“Shut up.” He hissed
“God, I'm such an idiot…” Peter put his head in his hands.
Yeah, maybe that is true. If he had listened to his Sense, maybe May would be fine now. He wouldn't be stuck in Gotham worried about his neighborhood. Maybe they would be in Metropolis instead of Gotham. To think that because of one vote they came to this city– A strong, cold wind cut his spiraling short.
Peter looked up and was greeted by a beautiful red orange sky. “Wow…”
He stays like that, just observing, until the last hints of color disappeared, replaced by the grey of the city.
Peter sighs and checks the time.
5:56 AM
‘Well, I guess now is a more reasonable time to be awake’ He gets up and climbs back down to his room.
Back in the hotel room, Peter sits on the bed and takes to scrolling through social media when he remembers about the picture of the Gotham skyline he took yesterday. After everything that happened he didn't even thought about the reason why they came here in the first place. Photography was always a way to remember uncle Ben and was something he loved to do, then he decided to show to the world the kindness his uncle Ben and aunt May always taught him to try and see in people, that there is always someone willing to do something good. Even in places like Gotham. Especially in places like Gotham. The vigilantes are proof of that. They are common people who decided Gotham is worth it. That trained and played dress up for the city. Yeah, three people doesn’t sound like much, but it isn’t nobody. There are also the people who are volunteers in shelters, that doctor who was kind to him in her own gothamite way, the firefighters who were trying to put out the fire in his hotel, and a lot more.
The thing is, kindness isn’t always shown the same way everywhere. In one place it might be minding your own business or not calling CPS for a street kid, while in others it can be helping someone with their bags or helping to fix someone’s car when it broke on the traffic.
With his new found inspiration, Peter decides to post that picture in his Webs of Good account. He wonders how long it will take for someone to notice that he's in Gotham.
Peter hears some rustling coming from Happy's room. ‘He's probably waking up’
He stretches a little and gets up from the bed, going to the bathroom so he can change and brush his teeth. Peter pauses ‘Oh well…’ At least he would if his things didn’t fucking burn down
“Damn… Man, this sucks…” At least he decided to leave his Spider-Man suit at home, so that in case something happened he wouldn't be outed as Spidey. This time it saved it from being burned and/or found by someone.
Peter sighs (Wow, that was contagious) and goes to the bathroom to at least try and tame his ‘bird's nest’ hair.
With his now less unruly hair, Peter goes to the little living room of their hotel room and sees Happy already there on his phone.
“Um… Good morning, Happy.” He says
Happy looks up from his phone to acknowledge Peter “Good morning, kid. Didn't expect you to be up this early.” Peter shrugs at that
“Woke up and couldn't fall back asleep” He explains
“So…” Peter starts “My stuff kinda was set on fire… So I need a way to pick some of my things from my apartment back in New York–” “Don't worry about it, kid. Tony already thought of that.” Peter’s eyes widen in surprise
“He did…?” He manages to say
“Yeah. We could ask him to send some of your stuff here or we can just buy them here.”
“He– He doesn't need to do that– I–”
“Peter. Yeah, he doesn't need to. But he wants to help. If he didn't want to do that, do you think he would offer or I would be here?” When Peter stays quiet he nods and continues “Yes, that's right. He wouldn't. And he said to remind you to not worry about the money, he is a billionaire.”
“Okay… I… I would prefer to pick up my stuff from my house…” Happy nods and goes back to his phone.
After some minutes he pockets his phone and turns to Peter “Do you want to pick up or order breakfast?” He asks
“Order. I'm not really in the mood to get out.” Specifically because he's wearing the same clothes for some hours and potentially doesn't look that presentable. All he wants is to take a relaxing bath and see his aunt again. Is it too much to ask? Apparently, for the Universe it is.
After about half an hour later, their breakfast arrives. It was [Insert very cool breakfast cause I dunno what I'm doing].
The rest of the morning was nothing special, they spent the morning in their hotel room. For lunch, they once again decided to order food. Happy was waiting for Peter's things to be brought and Peter wasn't in a mood to do anything else, so he didn't complain.
Two hours later, his things arrived in some dufflebags. Peter was in a little shock by the amount of things there was, but then he remembered that he has no idea how long he's going to be here in Gotham. Plus, inside it were his shoes, clothes, some toiletries (That he's pretty sure are new, because he took his to this trip. So, they probably burned) and other things.
He takes his stuff, puts them in his room and starts looking through the bags for something to wear. He ends up choosing a simple dark blue shirt and black baggy jeans. He goes to pick up his shampoo and conditioner when he sees a Spider-Man themed hoodie that Deadpool gave to him as a joke about his suit when he first got out as Spider-Man. ‘Fuck it’ He picks the hoodie and goes to the bathroom to finally take his long, relaxing shower.
Now finally with clean clothes, body and hair, he walks out of his room and finds Happy once again in the mini living room. “Hey, Happy, can we go visit May in the hospital?” Honestly, Peter could go alone. But the hotel they're staying at is quite far from the hospital. Plus, he doesn't know how long he will stay with May. So it's better to go by car and not need to worry too much about the time to go back than going by foot and having the chance of being mugged and having to worry about going back at night. And Happy probably wants to see May and talk to her doctor anyway.
“Sure. Let's go kid.” Peter smiles at the men before they both leave their room and the hotel.
The drive to the hospital was once again quiet, but this time it wasn't awkward. Actually, it was a quite comfortable silence.
When they arrived at the hospital, they walked to the ‘reception’ desk and were greeted by a tired looking man.
"Hello. How can I help you?” The man says with a tired smile.
"Hello. We're here to see Maybelle Parker.” The receptionist nods and types something on the computer. “Alright. I just need to look at your IDs before letting you in.”
Happy hums in affirmation and picks his ID to show to the man. Peter does the same. “All done.” The worker smiles at them and hands their visitor badges.
“Thank you” Peter gives the man a little smile as he and Happy walk to where the rooms patients are kept in are. They stop at the familiar door with ‘room 12’ written on top of it.
Peter opens the door and they both enter the room.
“Hey, May” Peter sits on the chair at May's side. “Hope you're feeling at least a little bit better…” He gives her a small, sad smile and glances back at Happy to find the man seated on the couch he slept on yesterday looking softly at him and May.
Peter huffs a laugh at seeing the usually stoic man with such look on his face. Before he can say anything else, someone knocks on the door and opens it.
“Mr. Parker, Mr. Hogan.” Dr. Williams says in greeting as she goes in to check on May. “Dr. Williams.” Happy greats with a nod at the doctor's direction.
“Hi, Dr. Williams”
After checking May, she turns to them. “Mrs. Parker is doing well. She's healing, but there are still chances of her getting worse.”
Peter nods and smiles at the doctor, releasing a breath he didn't even know he was holding. May is healing, she's getting better.
“That’s– That’s great!” Maybe this time Parker Luck won't fuck everything up, he hopes.
“Do you, um, have an idea if she will be able to wake up soon…?” Peter asks, hopefully, biting his lips.
“No… Not yet.” Dr. Williams sighs. “It is still too early to tell. As I said, there are still chances that she can worsen.” He deflates a little at that, but nods and smiles at her anyway. “Okay. Thank you, Dr. Williams” She gives him a small smile and gets to talking with Happy for some minutes before leaving the room.
Peter turns back to May “Did you hear that? You're getting better. Maybe we'll be able to go back to New York soon, who knows” He smiles and holds her hand in his.
Peter talks with May for some time, Happy saying something once in a while. When it's time to leave, Peter sighs and gives May's hand a little squeeze.
“Bye, May. I larb you! Get well soon… I’ll come back tomorrow again!!” He gives her a grin and a wave before leaving with Happy.
•–«🕸🕷🕸»–•
Peter was feeling way better than he was when he woke up. Is he still tired? Yes. Is he still stressed? Absolutely. BUT, he's still feeling better than before. Maybe it was because of his visit to May. Or the fact that she's healing. Either way, something was bound to happen to dampen his mood. And that ‘thing’ was a reminder of his alter-ego situation.
And the fact that he hasn't talked to anybody since he got to Gotham. Well, anybody except Mr. Stark, but he was stressed and the only rational thing his brain thought to do was call someone and that someone ended up being him. So it doesn't count.
Anyway, where was he? Oh yeah, his alter-ego situation. Right. He decided that the best course of action was to not run from his problems, no matter how appealing that might sound. No running today, because he knows that, if he does, it will come and bite him in the ass later. Future Peter already has way too many problems. No need to add to that list, thank you.
After deciding to act responsible for the first time in his life, he calls Matt (as any responsible person would do) to try and make a plan of action.
“Peter? Is everything alright?” Peter really heard that a lot these last few days huh?
“Why everytime I call someone they ask me that…?” Peter mutters
“Maybe because you never call anyone except when it is an emergency, kid…” ‘Huh, that makes sense’
“Huh… Doesn't matter. Anyway, hi Matt, I kinda need your help with something…”
“Hm, what happened?”
“Don't worry, is nothing that bad”
“Peter. Get to the point. Are you okay?”
“Oh! Not really, but who is these days, am I right?” Peter hears a long sigh from the other side of the phone. “Thing is, do you remember that I asked you to look after Queens because I'm going on a little trip this week? Right, stupid question. Of course you remember. Anyway, that trip is extended for I don't know how long and I need a plan…”
“Explain. Please…”
“Uhh, so…” Peter takes a deep breath “So, we came to Gotham, because of the WG stuff you know?” Matt hums as a ‘go on’ gesture. “ Then, at– At night, I left the hotel we were in to relax a little because my Spidey-Sense was driving me crazy, now I know why, but at the time I had no idea what was setting it off. Then–” He takes another breath to calm himself down a little so he can manage to explain the next part. “Then I noticed that the hotel we were at was on fire. I– I wasn’t in it, but May… May was inside and she was hurt.”
“...”
“Now she's at the hospital in no condition to go back to NY for now. Her doctor said she's getting better, but I dunno when I can go back… Happy is here with me, but he's going back in two weeks…”
“And if there isn't someone with you, the chances of CPS being called are big…”
“Yeah, but Mr. Stark is taking care of that part. We already discussed what to do in this case… It isn't the best, but it's what we can do…”
“As much as I don't like Stark, if you want me to I can work with him to bring you both back to New York”
“You don't need to, Matt! I'm already asking for help with Spider-Man and–”
“Peter, I'm sure someone already told you this before, but as much as I don't need to, I want to help you. Of course, if you don't want me to, then I won't. But the offer still stands.” Peter stays quiet for a moment. Someone did, in fact, tell him that. Today even. But Matt doesn't need to know that.
“Thanks Matt… I– I would like that…” It isn't that he doesn't trust Mr. Stark, he does! Really! It's just that he trusts Matt more and he knows that Matt won't do anything without Peter knowing about and consenting to it.
“It's nothing, Pete. I'll tell Stark that I'm a family friend and that you asked me to help. Is that fine with you?” He asks
“Yeah, that's okay. Thank you so much for the help Matt…” Matt chuckles
“As I said before, it's no problem. Now, for our spider problem…”
“Right. So, for this week everything is already settled, the problem is after that. Spider-Man can't just disappear, it would raise some questions and my villains might want to cause extra trouble if they catch wind of that.”
Matt hums “You’re thinking about making appearances as Spidey. How would you do that?”
“That's what I need help with. I was thinking that you could, maybe, continue to keep an eye on Queens while I'm away… Are you okay with that…? You don't need to, obviously, I can ask someone else if you don't want to or can't do that!”
“I can do that, don't worry. Now, about your appearances, you can't just disappear for days there, that might cause problems. But, what you can do, is come during periods of time, then go back to Gotham. That will be tiring, but it's one solution.”
“I thought of that too. I shouldn't keep a pattern tho… Just to be sure nobody is 100% sure about which days I'm patrolling and which I'm not. Oh, also, if you think something big is happening or will happen, something that needs or could use Spider-Man, can you warn me?”
“Of course. It's your territory. I won't do anything big without informing you beforehand.” He huffs.
“Thanks… Ahh, another thing…” Peter says sheepishly “My suit. It is still in my house. I hid it well, I think. But I'm afraid someone could find it while I'm away… Could you–” “–Pick it up and keep it with me? Yes, I can.”
“Thank you again, Matt! Really”
“Don't worry about it. Sorry, kid, I need to go now. Oh, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry for your aunt… Also, I know you’re finding a way to blame yourself. So, as long as you weren't the one that set the hotel on fire, it wasn't your fault, and I'm sure your aunt feels the same way. Take care of yourself, Peter. Talk to you soon.”
“Bye, Matt. Take care of yourself too…” He says quietly as the call ends.
‘Not his fault’ How it wasn't his fault when he was warned about the danger but decided to do it anyway? Peter huffs and lies down on his bed, putting his arm on his face.
He did his job as a responsible person and solved his issues. Now he deserves a nap, right? Ah… How he wishes he could just sleep off his problems…
Peter sighs. Maybe he can take a short nap, then later go out to try and find this city's vigilantes, Batman and Robin, the reason he came here in the first place. If he wakes up for it, later he can try and find them to take his pictures. Yeah, a nap sounds good now…
————
He wakes up rather peacefully, no nightmares tonight. Peter sits on the bed and stretches a little before picking his phone to see the time.
11:20 PM
Right on time! Peter gives a satisfied smile and a nod to himself, then he puts his phone back to its place, gets up, changes to warmer clothes (That include his Spider-Man hoodie. Sue him, it's comfy) and gets his camera and phone before leaving through the window to get to the rooftops.
He has probably said it before and will say again that running and jumping through rooftops is strangely relaxing to him. Maybe it's the spider in him that likes being high up. Or maybe it's the vigilante in him that has the self-preservation instincts of a wet paperbag. Or it is a strange mix of both. Yeah, probably a mix of both. Or that is just Peter being Peter, but eh, who cares? Not him.
While he tries to listen to something that might signal (A little bit in the future, this would be a pun…) that the vigilantes can be or are close, he does some tricks while running and jumping rooftop after rooftop. After some minutes of running, he hears something. More specifically someone. Two heartbeats some rooftops ahead of him. Peter stops and, more sneakily this time, jumps to the next rooftop to get a better view of who he now can identify as Batman and Robin. But, before he can get closer, he notices that he missed another heartbeat that was on a rooftop close to where they were.
Peter looks in the direction of said heartbeat and sees a kid who couldn't be older than 10 on the roof that he would have jumped to, had he not noticed the heartbeat, apparently also taking pictures of the two vigilantes.
‘Fuck it’ He thinks before silently jumping to the rooftop the kid was. He got a little bit closer than before. Now a little closer he can see that the kid really was taking photos of the vigilantes. He has black short hair and was wearing a dark blue hoodie and black sweatpants. A very similar thing to what he was wearing, by the way. ‘Did I accidentally find a mini me or something?’ He mentally snorts at the idea.
“Hey, kid. Pretty late to bird watch, huh?” Peter says quietly.
The kid jumps and turns around in surprise. Looking like a deer caught in a headlight before narrowing his eyes.
“As if you can say something, ‘strange person jumping rooftops at midnight’. Who are you?” Peter snorts before he can catch himself
“Touché…” Then he gives the kid a grin.
“Peter, a fellow bird watcher. You?” If the kid gives him his name, Peter will be worried about his self-preservation instincts like the hypocrite he is.
The kid eyes him with suspicion before putting a careful neutral face.
“Tim.”
