Chapter Text
“Did you get the thingy?” Morgan asks as he walks into the library.
Peter breaks into a wide smile at the question. “I did!” He exclaims as he wraps Morgan in a hug and spins her around in circles. Morgan squeals in excitement at the motion, and he hears Barbara come around too.
“You got the job? That’s great Peter! I knew you could do it!” Barbara tells him, smiling fondly at him and Morgan. “I think that’s cause for celebration…” she adds ominously, the side glance she’s giving Morgan telling Peter whatever this celebration idea is was planned while he was gone for the job interview.
The interview itself was fine. He walked in, told the hostess his name and why he was there, then was quickly escorted to a booth when Mrs. Roselli’s daughter, Sofia, was waiting for him. He shook her hand, firmly just like uncle Ben and Mr. Stark showed him to, and spend the next fifteen minutes talking about his experience with work. He put he’d been an assistant for a mechanic on his resume, since he figured that was the easiest way to explain what he learned interning at Stark Industries.
By the end of the interview, Sofia told him he was hired, further confirming the fact that unless he was a serial killer or something of the like, he was getting this job because he was the Roselli’s neighbor.
But still, having a confirmed source of income takes a huge weight off Peter’s shoulder. For the first time in the week since he’s arrived in this universe, he’s got all his cards in line. He has a house, he’s friends with his neighbors, he’s been frequenting his local library, and now he has a job.
Next is fixing up his kitchen and Karen, who’s still broken inside his suit.
Once Karen’s fixed, then he can start trying to contact Mr. Stark in earnest. There’s not much he can do right now, but now that his life with Morgan is starting to get stable, he’ll have the free time to worry about getting home rather than stressing over survival and basic necessities.
Now, there’s only one more immediate issue.
“Hey Miss Barbara, do you know of any summer programs or daycares that would take Morgan while I’m at work?” He asks, turning to the librarian, whose mischievous grin quickly sobers. Morgan pouts once she hears she needs a babysitter, but she’s not nearly old enough to stay on her own.
“This late in the summer, any daycares or camps that would take her are almost over. Of course, there’s still some daycares, but they’re not exactly…”
“Affordable?”
“Probably not.” Barbara smiles sadly at him, wheeling herself to her desk. Peter follows, watching her type away at her computer and hoping for some miracle program to pop up. He doesn’t have enough spare cash to pay the Roselli’s to watch over Morgan, and after his own experience, he doesn’t trust babysitters he doesn’t know.
Barbara bites her lip as she keeps clicking with her mouse, telling Peter she’s not finding anything.
“You know…” Barbara begins, her eyes flicking between Peter and Morgan, who’d resumed reading out loud to her Elsa doll while they went to research. “This is a public space. Kids come here and stay for hours reading all the time.” She gives him a look, conveying her meaning without words.
“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Peter immediately protests. Barbara has a job. She doesn’t need to worry about Morgan’s well being while trying to help other kids and families that come into the library.
“You’re not asking, I’m offering,” Barbara defends. “Between the books and the computers, Morgan has enough to keep her occupied here for a couple hours. I’ll just keep a closer eye on her than the others since I know she’s alone. It’s really no problem,” she assures.
Peter opens his mouth to argue some more, then closes it.
On one hand, Barbara keeping an eye on Morgan while she stays at the library is the most convent option, and it keeps everyone happy; Morgan especially. Peter’s been left at the library before when May and Ben both had a shift and Peter couldn’t be left alone. Babysitters were off the table, after…so they’d pack him a lunch and say they’d be back later. Peter loved it, but it also wasn’t a regular thing. This would be.
Barbara had been so kind to them, and Peter didn’t want to take advantage of it. Sofia told him he’d be working noon to evenings two times during the week, then evening to close Friday and Saturday, then brunch on Sunday.
The library closes at eight pm. Peter will be off work closer to midnight on the weekends. Only three of his shifts will Peter be able to drop Morgan off at the library, so it’s not like he’s making Barbara watch Morgan everyday. If she’s offering, is three days really all that bad?
And if he’s only asking the Roselli’s to watch Morgan Friday and Saturday nights, and he’ll pay them, of course, no matter how much they argue, Peter doesn’t think he’d be imposing all that much…
“She would only be here three times a week, I promise. I know I work Sunday brunch every week for sure, but the other two days depend on what days the restaurant needs me most. I promise it’ll be like she isn’t even here-“ Peter rambles, begrudgingly accepting Barbara’s offer for some light babysitting.
“Just let me know and I’ll be ready for her.” Barbara grins, looking up at him. “Now, I told Morgan you’d take her to Batburger if you got that job, so she’s expecting some fast food right about now.”
Batburger??
“I can’t tell if that name is genius or stupid,” Peter admits.
“I haven’t figured it out either. But Morgan will love the theme, I can promise that.” Barbara snickers, waving him off to go take Morgan out for some chicken nuggets.
“Alright Mo, I’m convinced, let’s go get Batburger,” he calls out, watching as Morgan’s head snaps up and she screeches in excitement.
Peter looks away from the hyper five year old to Barbara accusingly. “This is your fault,” he whispers with a fake glare.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she responds with a shrug, failing to hide her grin and she turns back to her computer.
“Petey! I wanna check this out! Will you read it to me tonight?” Morgan asks and she comes up to the desk, shoving a book in his hands.
Peter stares down at How Newton Discovered Gravity, then back to Morgan with a raised eyebrow.
“Mommy says I’m too young for those books, but daddy will read them to me sometimes when she goes to sleep early. Please Petey? You’ll be my favorite brother ever if you do!” Peter is then hit with the full force of Morgan’s devastating puppy dog eyes and caves instantly.
“We’ll be checking out this one.” Peter hands Barbara the book with a sigh.
She looks at the book then at Peter and Morgan skeptically.
“Isn’t this a little…advanced? Or boring?” Barbara asks as he scans the book and hands it back. Morgan holds up the book at looks at it like it’s the real life Elsa.
Barbara turns her concerned look to Peter.
Peter blinks his own confusion away and shrugs, pretending like this is completely normal.
“I’ve learned to pick my battles,” he settles on, grabbing Morgan’s hand and walking out of the library, leaving an exasperated Barbara behind.
Batburger was basically an emo McDonalds, much to Morgan’s delight. He bought her a bat meal, declining her request for an ice cream cone. It’d been a long day, and Peter really didn’t want to deal with her sugar crash.
Peter ordered himself a burger meal and called it a day. He’s had his fair share of McDonald’s in his life, since it’s pretty cheap. But if Peter’s actually got money, it’s not his favorite place to go.
At least the fries here are great.
Peter’s listen to Morgan ramble about a book she checked out from the library. It’s a comic book, and she’s shown him the same ‘super funny’ page about four times so far. He keeps faking his laugh and cycling through his scripted lines that assures her he’s paying attention.
“That’s really funny, bug,” he smiles, then takes a bite of his burger, enjoying the few seconds of peace a mouthful gives him. Morgan thankfully follows his example and taking a bite of her own cheeseburger, finally putting her book down.
Peter attempts another bite, praying Morgan won’t notice, when his sense pings. Nothing too threatening, more like it wants him to pay more attention to his surroundings.
It’s what happens when Peter runs into other hero’s or vigilantes. The first time Peter came home to find Tony Stark in his living room, his sense did the same thing.
Peter’s eyes flick to the entrance, where two boys have walked in. One looks a couple years younger than Peter, maybe thirteen? The other one looks to be in his mid twenties, probably an older brother or something of the like. For some reason, his spidey sense is telling him to keep an eye on the two of them.
He decides to tune into their conversation. Maybe he’ll overhear something that will clue him into why his sense is buzzing faintly.
“You were super worried about that test! Don’t give me that look Dami, I know you were! And you aced it! That deserves a treat,” the older man says cheerfully.
“Then why are we here?” The younger boy—Dami—huffs. His voice sounds a bit familiar, but Peter can’t place where he’s heard it before.
“Because as much as you pretend, I can see right through you. I know you like this place, so I’m buying you a bat meal and some ice cream for celebration,” the older one explains.
The younger boy doesn’t say anything, but Peter can see his seething glare. Someone doesn’t like being called out.
“Peter!” Morgan shouts, slamming her hands on the table to get his attention.
‘Shit, forgot about Morgan,’ Peter realizes. He stares back at the girl, who’s glaring angrily at him.
“You were ignoring me!” She accuses.
“I’m sorry Mo, I just zoned out for a minute. I’m promise I’m paying attention,” he swears, turning his attention away from the boys. Whatever they are, they clearly aren’t a threat. They’re here to get some food to celebrate good news, just like Peter and Morgan. He’s got his own life to focus on.
“You have to read me an extra chapter tonight,” Morgan bargains.
‘Definitely Mr. Stark and Miss Potts daughter.’ Peter chuckles at her request.
“Of course, bug.”
“Dami?” Dick questions, following his brother’s gaze.
“I know that kid,” Damian replies, subtly looking towards the boy from the roof a couple of nights ago.
“From school? He looks to be more Tim’s age,” Dick observed, looking less subtly at the boy and girl eating at a booth. The girl has a book in her hand, and whatever she’s just said made the boy laugh, despite the angry look on her face.
“On patrol. He was on a roof in Crime Alley.”
“What were you doing in Crime Alley?” Dick’s eyes immediately narrow, catching his slip up.
“Irrelevant,” Damian scoffs, playing it off. “He was crying, but he seems better now.”
“You did your first rooftop talk alone!? How did it go?”
It seems he sufficiently distracted Grayson, then. Damian smothers a smirk.
“I was told it was one of my natural strengths,” he brags.
Dick stared at him skeptically. He looks back over at the kid from the rooftop. “I think he might’ve just been sparing your feelings, Dami.”
Damian seethes. “He stopped crying, opened up about his problems, and then went back inside with a smile. What part of that exchange was not up to your standards?”
“I believe you!” Dick defends, holding his hands up in surrender. “I just want to ask Babs for the footage for proof…”
Damian kicks him in the shin. Hard.
Dick whines pathetically, and Damian spares another glance to the boy from the roof, who seems to be placating the five year old across from him. That must be the sister he mentioned on the roof.
No father, though. Damian narrows his eyes, then turns back to the counter, where Grayson has begun ordering for them.
If Damian ever sees the kids emotionally unavailable father, he has some words he’d like to say to the man. He knows what it’s like, after all.
Apparently, Morgan understood her book perfectly fine. The only reason she needed Peter was so that he could read ‘big words’ for her and explain what they meant. Newton, it seems, was child’s play for Morgan, the daughter of a genius. Morgan was clearly on the path to matching her father’s intellect. Peter couldn’t help but smile as he thought of the future. Morgan will take the world by storm, no doubt, considering her brains and parents.
Peter hopes her getting dragged here with him didn’t ruin that bright future of hers.
Peter looks back at the chemistry set he bought yet still hasn’t brought himself to opening.
He has his first day of work tomorrow, but maybe in two days…?
Peter sighs and walks over to the coffee table currently housing all the books Peter and Morgan are temporarily housing using their library card.
He’s picked up a book on environmental science. He was taking the AP, back home, and he was worried on his field trip that he wouldn’t have enough time to study for his test the next day. The math was all a breeze, but he just knew his teacher was going to make him match the pollutant to what causes it, and he definitely didn’t have it memorized.
He was supposed to take that test five years ago.
He wonders if anyone took that test? What happened to Mr. D? Did he die that day, preparing for a test he never got to give out? Or did he live, but didn’t have any students to give the test to?
What happened to his universe?
Morgan wouldn’t be able to answer that question. She was too young. And even if she wasn’t, she was born after Thanos. She wouldn’t be able to know what was different and what was the same.
Peter climbs out the window, still in his Batman blanket, climbs to the rooftop, and reads about pollutants.
About thirty minutes later, footsteps drop down on the roof next to Peter.
Peter looks up, expecting to see the bright colors of Robin, but instead sees blue.
“Nightwing? Is Red hood still out of town?” Peter questions, putting his book down.
“Nope, so I’d be really grateful if you didn’t tell on me,” Nightwing tells him with a wink.
“Uh, can I…help you with something?” Peter’s not crying this time, and sure, maybe studying on a rooftop is a little weird, but if anyone should be approaching him with concern, it should be Red hood. Since, y’know, Crime Alley. Since when did it have a bird infestation?
“Personal inquiry. Robin claims you told him he’s good at talking to people, which I thought might be a cry for help,” Nightwing explains, in a way that sounds like a joke but is also a bit concerned.
“I’m gonna tell Robin you said that. Kid has katanas, you know,” Peter reminds, smiling as he picks up his book again.
“Boy do I,” Nightwing sighs, shooting Peter a grin a moment later. “You got summer school or something?”
Peter glances at the science book again. “ah, no, I was planning on taking this class next year, y’know? I wanted to get an introduction to it, see if I wanna take it or not,” he lies. If he says he never actually finished taking this class and wants to pick up where he left off, Nightwing will no doubt have questions. And those are questions Peter unfortunately can’t answer.
“Oh I get it, you’re a little genius huh? Just like Red Robin, doing research stuff for fun.” Nightwing makes a disgusted face, forcing a smile on Peter’s face.
“We’ve gotta pick up for you slackers.”
Nightwing gasps dramatically, only making Peter grin further.
“You bats have a yelp? I’ll leave a good review for you. Robin gets five stars, you get four,” Peter tells him with a smirk.
“What’d Robin do to get higher than me!?”
“I mean he did all the real comforting. You’re more like the follow up. You’ve got the easier job, so Robin gets more credit, naturally,” Peter explains.
“And this is exactly why we don’t have a yelp. You trolls will mess up the rankings. Obviously I’d be the highest rated,” Nightwing continues to brag.
“Man is there really no crime for you to be taking care of?” Peter huffs with a roll of his eyes.
“Well jeez, might as well tell me to jump,” Nightwing claims.
“Dude, that like, no where near what I just said—“ Peter begins, but Nightwing’s already inching closer to the ledge, dramatically clutching his heart.
Then he jumps.
Peter jumps up with a gasp, rushing to make sure Nightwing didn’t just die, and instead sees the man doing a flip midair and shooting off a grappling gun into a nearby roof. With a showy duck and flip, Nightwing ends up on the roof next to him, flashing him a grin and waving before taking off once more.
“You’re going down to three stars!” Peter screams after him after the shock wears off. How dare he!? That’s Peter’s trick! That’s what he does to scare the shit out of Mr. Stark when he wants to mess around or is feeling petty. How dare Nightwing use a dramatic exit against him!
Peter grumbles to himself the entire time he climbs back down the fire escape and into his apartment, all up until he falls asleep.
It isn’t until the morning that Peter realizes Nightwing pissed him off so much he completely forgot about his problem enough to allow him to get a night of dreamless sleep.
…Okay fine, the guy gets to keep his four star rating.
“Hey B, what’d you pull out three thousand dollars for?” Tim asks suddenly, after going through the bank statements to prove that Steph was the one who bought that new computer because he knows she also bought some perfume, which would rat her out.
He finds what he’s looking for, obviously, but then he sees the random three thousand dollar withdrawal. Of course, there’s a lot of them, so who knows who pulled out the money, but seriously? Three thousand? For some reason, the money seemed to be taken from an ATM in Metropolis. Only Bruce, Damian, and Tim have been in Metropolis recently, and the day lines up with a trip Bruce took to go over some investigation with Superman.
“I never took out three thousand,” Bruce informs him, walking over to the computer he’s at with a frown.
“Well someone did,” Tim says. Did someone hack into Bruce’s bank account? There should be no way. Tim and Babs have both secured all of Bruce’s personal accounts. Certain purchases would give away their secret identities, so they’ve made sure they’ve got firewall after firewall after password after password that ensures no one will get in.
Is it possible someone did?
“Look into this,” Bruce commands, but Tim’s already on it.
“If they took three thousand, they needed money, but they obviously still wanted to stay undetectable. Clearly they thought we wouldn’t notice. And, to be fair, we didn’t.” That’s the worst part. They’ve only recognized the breach over a week later. And it was on accident.
Whoever this was could’ve easily gotten away with it.
But now Tim is on the case.
He’ll find them.