Chapter Text
Now that Tim had agreed to help Jason was able to head back to catch a couple hours of sleep before he had to head out for the day. The sun was rising over the horizon as he rode his bike to his closest safehouse, and with the dim sunlight he kept an eye out through every street he passed looking for any hints of the child they had lost.
He made it back to his apartment without any success in his search, but that wouldn't deter him. The kid might end up not being related to Dick but he was still a young boy roaming around, and falling out of the sky, he needed somebody to look out for him. Jason knew what it was like to be alone and he made sure that the kids of the Alley always knew Red Hood was there for them however they needed.
He quickly took off his Red Hood uniform and threw on an old t-shirt and sweats before collapsing face first onto the couch, halfway to sleep before his head even hit the cushions. He had learned a long time ago to always have his alarms set so he wasn't surprised by the ringing jolting him awake what felt like only a couple minutes later. With a sigh he rubbed his hands down his face, grateful for what little sleep he had been able to get. Throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt he headed out for his shift helping at the homeless shelter.
Jason had been visiting this shelter for years, acting as the go-between for Red Hood the people of Gotham, and had gotten to know the regulars pretty well. He stood at the front desk and helped check people in for food, and directed them to the showers or beds as needed. He used the opportunity to ask if anybody had information about any sightings of a new unattended child wandering around the streets. Unfortunately, nobody had any information to offer, but Jason made sure to ask that they told the child that help was available if they came across him.
The day went on in that manner until it was time to leave, and then Red Hood patrolled through the night with extra care in his search for possible clues. Jason repeated the routine day after day, and with each passing day the lack of leads on the child weighed heavier on him.
~~~~
Dick wasn't quite sure how long he had been sitting on the floor of the Cave but the sound of Jason's motorcycle leaving shocked him out of his reverie and made him jump up. He shook his arms and hopped in place a couple times, trying to expel all the nervous energy radiating through him,
"Mkay - time for a gameplan."
"Do it somewhere else."
Dick twisted around at the clipped sound of Tim's voice, he had forgotten that he wasn't alone down here, so caught up in his own head - and while Dick found it useful to vocalize his thought processes it had always annoyed his family members when he talked to himself too loudly. Tim hadn't even bothered to look away from the screens in front of him as he scrolled through pages of data searching for his own clues on the hunt they were embarking on.
"Right. Yes…. Sorry."
Dick grimaced through his apology as he stumbled over his own feet, backing away from where his younger brother was working. He span around and ran up the stairs into the Manor. The house was silent as he maneuvered his way through the halls.
"Good morning Master Richard. Breakfast is served in the Dining Room."
Despite the early hour Alfred looked impeccable as he stood in the kitchen doorway, backlit by the rising sun through the windows. Dick froze in place at Alfred's appearance, but couldn't help his eyes from darting towards the staircase to his room and his escape. He slowly started to trying to abscond, taking each step one at a time as he guiltily stuttered his way through an attempt of an excuse and gestured vaguely in the direction of his room,
"Ah….thank you, Alfred. I will get to that as soon as I, uh, finish….um….mission. work. stuff."
Alfred just arched his eyebrow and stared,
"Now Master Richard." he commanded, "It is the most important meal of the day after all."
With a sigh Dick dropped his head to his chest and lowered his shoulders in defeat before turning to walk through the archway to the Dining Room. As soon as he entered the room he was enveloped in the vibrant scents of smoked salmon, dill, eggs, and bacon. The table was piled high with dishes catering to every family members' personal preferences, waiting for each of them to wander through on their way to their daily obligations - whether that be school or work.
Dick glanced up at the clock on the wall, based on the early hour Bruce would have already left for the office but there should be enough time to eat and slip away before the majority of his siblings would be up to get ready for school. There was, however, always the exception;
"Good morning Grayson. You're up early."
Damian was sitting at the table, every muscle in his body poised with an innate sense of danger. The only sign that the treacherous figure in front of Dick was a child were the animals affectionately surrounding him. Alfred - the sleek black and white cat - lounged across the back of his seat with his tail wrapping protectively around Damian's shoulder, while Titus - the giant, gray Great Dane - sat beside him drooling all over his lap. The picture of contradictions portrayed humanized the tiny terror that was still growing accustomed to being a member of the family.
Dick hurriedly made his way towards his seat, reaching out to place an omelette onto his plate, grabbing extra pieces of salmon to cover it with. He also grabbed the carafe on the table and filled his mug with coffee before sliding into his own seat across from Damian.
"Morning Dami. Ready for school?"
Dick tried to act as nonchalantly as he could, but his body continued to thrum with anxiety as he ached to return to his investigation. His leg tapped restlessly under the table and he started to shovel his food into his mouth in a rush. A sneer crossed Damian's face as he watched Dick's actions;
"Really Grayson, have you no manners?"
Dick proceeded to tune out Damian's lecture - about how to behave whilst dining and how school was beneath him so he didn't understand why he had to go - and finished off his plate before abruptly standing up from his chair and running out the door. As he bounded into the hall he yelled back over his shoulder,
"Have fun at school!"
As soon as Dick had finally made his way upstairs and to his room he had a general plan of what to do. He had only moved to Blüdhaven a couple years ago, so the majority of his belongings from the time he needed to investigate were still in his room in the Manor.
He started to dig through his closet looking for photos and mementos, dumping everything he found onto his bed. Once he could no longer see the sheets through the pile he pulled his desk chair over and sat down to start digging through his past. As he found any souvenirs of his past relationships he set them aside, it was going to take him a while to reach out to each of them.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled down to the first name he had found and clicked dial,
This is gonna be a long night….
~~~~
Tim was a good detective. In fact, he often considered himself the best. He had been able to figure out Batman's identity all on his own at a young age. However, even with those accreditations, somehow he was failing to find any information on one small child in Gotham.
Jason had provided as much information from the first sighting as he could - including the location, size, and appearance of the child - and once Tim had kicked Dick out of the BatCave he was able to focus enough to get a search set up with those parameters before he had to get ready and head to school.
The whole day he kept his phone in his hand, connecting back to the BatCave computer to look for any hits, but nothing ever came through. There were no records of labs of any kind, anywhere within Crime Alley, that had been discovered, broken into or destroyed.
As each day passed without any leads Tim tried expanding the search parameters to encompass more of Gotham, and then neighboring cities, yet there was still no results. It seemed all evil scientists had unanimously decided it was a holiday from experimentations.
Tim was staying up later every night, desperation lacing his actions as he manually inspected every report and document he could find that might have any possible leads. He was disappointed that he had been unable to succeed and knew that he was going to have to go to Jason and admit defeat. They would have to ask the rest of the family to help and Tim was not looking forward to telling Jason that.
~~~~
Peter was awoken by something gently tickling his face,
"Five mo' minuds, May. Pwease."
He rolled over and tried to fall back under the comforting lull of slumber, but the prickling sensation would not go away. His whole body felt heavy from his slumber, as if he had just awoken from the deepest depths of unconsciousness. He slowly peeled his eyes open to figure out what was waking him up, but all he could see was darkness on all sides. The sensation that awoke him continued and he tried to swat away the source but his hand made contact with something as soon as he raised it. He tried to reach all around and felt a spongy texture surrounding him. Peter applied a little force and his hand broke through the casing, allowing sunlight to glare through and illuminate his makeshift sleeping quarters.
Peter gawked as he realized exactly what it was he was sleeping in - he had somehow become entangled in a cocoon of webs. He sat up with a start and the webbing crumbled above him, leaving him sitting in a hammock of threads that appeared to be suspended in the air in the middle of the bunk room where he had fallen asleep. As he started to register his surroundings, Peter's jaw dropped even further down. The barren firehouse that he had asserted as his home was now completely filled with miles of glittering mazes of thick silk. Every direction he turned was covered in webs so dense that the sunlight shining through created a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere.
Every inch of the room was covered in the webbing, but as he surveyed it Peter felt a tingle directing him to a discreet opening. He slowly climbed over the edge of the hammock and creeped his way along the threads, squeezing through the opening and following the winding path of the tunnel. The shaft led Peter through a maze, until he finally reached the exit right above the doorway to the bunk room.
Peter inched along the ceiling and through the doorway until he was able to drop down onto the floor of the hallway. With a glance over his shoulder Peter was better able to see just how crowded the room had been and a shiver went down his back.
Where did those even come from….
He continued to toddle his way down the hallway until he finally saw th kitchen appear in his line of sight, and a familiar pulse of light. He jumped and ran the last couple meters,
"KAWEEEENNNN!"
He bee-lined straight for the generator and grabbed his watch from where it rested atop the now-empty battery.
"Good morning Peter. A preliminary body scan shows that you appear to be much smaller than my database records show."
"I dunno what happen, Kawen. How long was I 'sleep?"
"I am unable to provide an exact assessment, however I regained power 6 days, 15 hours, and 47 minutes ago."
"A WEEK?!"
The answer had shocked Peter so much that he had dropped Karen, however his instincts kicked in and suddenly the watch stopped its descent, hovering in midair. Peter froze in place staring - there was a thin piece of webbing maintaining the accessory's position, but as he followed the length of the thread up his eyes caught on exactly where it had originated from. Peter lifted his left hand and slowly reached over to his right wrist, pressing his fingers tenderly against the slight opening where the silk disappeared into him. He cautiously pinched the thread and used it to pick the watch back up.
"Kawen…. full body scan. Now, pwease."
With a beep, an arcing light came out of the swatch and sweeped up and down Peter's body as the nanobots skittered encompassed him simultaneously. After they had completed their traversing of Peter they returned to their base within the watch for Karen to analyze the results. Peter squatted down on the floor and waited, staring at his wrists, until there was a soft chime.
"I have completed the scan. There appear to be a number of physiological changes that have occurred throughout your body."
"Can you pwease list dem?"
"Certainly, Peter. To begin with, your body appears to have reverted to that of a child of approximately 6 years of age and it seems as if your spider DNA has mutated to encompass far more of your cells. You appear to now have a number of arachnid features including fangs, venom, multiple spinnerets, organic webbing, and a coating of urticating hair. Other than those changes, your body appears to be in great health, however you are lacking in nutrients and should eat as soon as possible."
Peter collapsed backwards onto the floor and spread out his arms and legs, staring at the ceiling.
"Oh…. dats wild."