Chapter Text
Peter sat at the kitchen table hunched over his books. It wasn't that he was having a hard time with school, it was that he was having a hard time staying awake. Barbara and he had been laying low since their encounter with Penguins men. She insisted on testing his abilities to properly measure his powers. When she wasn't having him lift heavy objects, or stand on different things, they worked together on gadgets.
After distributing the cash to food banks, homeless shelters, and local charities they had plenty left over. Unfortunately, there was a lack of armor that fit their needs. The closest they could get were some of the more 'out there' sports equipment. Problem being those weren't made to withstand bullets or knives. They had resigned themselves to having to make their own.
Most nights were spent at Barbara's house tinkering with things or doing research. It turned out that the corruption of Gotham went a lot farther than they thought. There were at least three mafia families, not counting Penguin, and most of the 'legit' businesses had dirty roots. Ace Chemicals, for all it's new shine, had a solid history of shady practices including using humans as unwilling test subjects. Enough digging, and plenty of access to the GCPD database, found a connection to LexCorp, which led to another lane of research.
The only exception was Wayne Enterprises. They seemed to be clean. The CEO, Bruce Wayne, had made it his mission in life to help those he could. Almost every good thing in Gotham could be traced back to him. Multiple charities, hospitals, and scholarship programs led back to him, or a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises. They also had really good cybersecurity. It had taken Barbara pulling out tricks she hadn't used since 'the dark time' to finally get in their system. She also refused to expand on what the 'dark time' actually was.
It was getting easier to be in the house. Having Barbara there helped. When he wasn't over there, she was here. Detective James Gordon had met with Aunt May to discuss why his daughter was spending so much time over at her house. They sat Barbara and Peter down to get to the bottom of things and to make sure that nothing funny was going on. All it took was Barbara mentioning her burgeoning tech company to get both of them talking way to fast about their various projects.
Peter looked up from his books as someone knocked on the door. Barbara had a key, and usually went through the back, and Aunt May would have called before she got home if she needed help. His danger sense was dormant. Peter stood and walked over to the door. An older man in an impeccable black suit stood at the edge of the porch. The man stepped up and knocked once more before stepping back.
"Who is it?" Peter asked.
"Alfred Pennyworth," the man replied, his voice had a crisp English accent. "I am looking for Peter Benjamin Parker."
Peter waited a moment for his danger sense to kick in. Nothing.
"Speaking," Peter replied.
"Mister Parker," the man continued. "I have some to invite you to Wayne Enterprises."
"When?" Peter asked.
"Presently," Alfred responded. "You colleague, Miss Gordon is already in the car."
Peter looked out the front window. A fancy black car was parked on the other side of the street. The back window rolled down all the way. Barbara poked her head out.
One of the first things they had come up with was a code phrase. Something they could say that would tip off the other person that they were in danger, or unable to talk. His danger sense hadn't even twitched through this entire encounter, still it paid to be careful. It was only a couple of days since Barbara cracked their security, this couldn't be a coincidence.
Peter opened the door.
"Babs?" Peter asked.
"Technically," Barbara replied.
Alfred stepped out of the way.
"If you would please," the man said. "Your guardians have already been contacted and informed."
The older man led Peter to the car.
"Informed of what?" Peter asked.
"Your meeting with Mister Wayne," Alfred responded without pause. "Please settle in, the drive to the manor will some time."
Meeting Bruce Wayne was worth the risk.