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Dick Grayson watched his brother (one of his many brothers), Peter Parker-Wayne, fidget with his outfit. He could practically feel the anxiety radiating off of the younger boy, wincing at the anxious knuckle cracking Peter was doing.
“Pete, I can hear you thinking from here. C’mere,” Dick motioned him over. Peter cocked his head but walked over.
“What?” He asked, crossing his arms to keep from fidgeting.
“Hey,” Dick grabbed his face gently. “It’ll be okay. We’re so proud of you.”
“I know! But like-” Peter cut off, looking down. Just then, Dick had a Thought™.
“Oh, kid. Are you missing your bio family?”
“Yeah.” Peter slumped forward, shoulders rising to his ears. His face was scrunched up in the way Dick knew meant he was trying not to cry.
“Hey, hey. Are you alright? Do you want a hug?” Dick asked, opening his arms. He barely blinked before his brother wrapped his arms around him. Peter buried his face into Dick’s shoulder.
“Do you want me to talk or just sit with you?” Dick asked gently. Their family, Dick included, had learned that Peter would absolutely wallow in misery if he felt like he was inconveniencing someone, so they always gave him options for how to help.
“Sit?” Peter asked after a moment. Dick nodded (not that Peter saw it) and tugged them both down onto the couch.
Dick didn’t mention the slight dampness growing on his shirt, nor the way Peter was shaking slightly, only draping his arms over the younger boy’s back. It was tough, losing family. Dick would know. Hell, anyone in their family would know. But Peter was at a huge milestone that many of their family had not even reached. Naturally he was going to miss his bio family.
Peter, one of Dick’s baby brothers, his brother that had taken down a villain solely through bad puns, was graduating college! Gotham City University, at the age of twenty. Dick was immensely proud of him. Everyone in their family was so, so proud of him, and even though they weren’t with them anymore, Dick knew Peter’s parents, uncle, and aunt would be proud too.
Eventually, Peter finally sat up and wiped his eyes. Dick turned to him.
“Is something else going on, kiddo?” He asked, gently. Peter started to shake his head, then stopped.
“Uh, well. Not really?” He stuttered. That was suspicious. Dick narrowed his eyes. Peter didn’t seem upset anymore, just shifty. For some reason.
“What’s up?” Dick asked, slowly bringing his hands to hover over Peter’s stomach. Peter didn’t notice.
“Nothing!” He squeaked. Guess Dick had no choice but to torture him for information.
Very quickly, Peter became a helpless, squirming lump on the couch, breathless with laughter.
“Tell me!” Dick said, not even giving Peter a second to catch his breath.
“N- no! It’s hah supposed to be- Dick! A surprise!” Peter laughed, flailing his arms around. One caught Dick square in the chest and Peter unfairly used his super strength to push Dick off him and into a heap on the floor.
“I’m ahaha- not telling you!” Peter wheezed, wiping a stray tear of laughter from his cheek.
“Aw, c’mon!”
~~~
Peter Parker-Wayne was panicking. A lot. More than usual. For many reasons, to be honest, but one in particular. Peter was currently the third person in his entire family who had gone to college and actually graduated. Well, he hadn't graduated yet but he would in two hours. That was the reason he was panicking.
And it wasn’t like he had a small family. Oh no, Peter had a father, grandfather, five brothers, and three sisters. Peter was the third youngest, graduating early. He was twenty, graduating with a double bachelor’s degree, already planning on several more, alongside a master’s. What in the world was Peter doing?
Also, how the fuck did he get valedictorian? Like, sure Peter had good grades, and definitely one of the highest GPAs, but like. What?!?!?!? Plus, Gotham U didn’t even formally announce it or anything. Peter’s physiology professor just sent him an email that was just:
Re: Congratulations!
From: Theresa Yew-Kin
(SO proud of you!)
- Professor Yew-Kin
Like, with all due respect Professor, what the fuck?
So. Yeah, Peter was freaking the goddamn fuck out. It was two hours before the graduation ceremony started and he was hanging out with some of his friends at a diner near campus. Everyone was too jittery to eat any portion bigger than three bites. Some were graduating, others weren’t finished with their studies yet, but all were on the verge of a breakdown. The servers looked both exasperated and affectionate due to Peter’s friend group being the most frequent customers. Of the ones graduating, some were leaving after getting their bachelor's degrees; others were transferring to other colleges for their master’s. Peter was staying to get his master’s and maybe a PhD if he felt like it. It wasn’t like Bruce wouldn’t immediately fund whatever classes Peter wanted to take, nor any research he would end up doing.
Peter's internal monologue was interrupted by one of his classmates.
“Do we even know who the valedictorian is?” Noor asked, setting her coffee down. That set everyone off.
“No?”
“I have no idea.”
“Did they even announce it?”
“Uh. You do, in fact, know who the valedictorian is.” Peter remarked, taking a long, loud sip of his extra-caramel-caramel-frappuccino. Everyone turned to him. Peter took another siiiiip of his coffee.
“Elaborate?” Noor asked, frowning. Peter sucked in another mouthful.
“I’m the valedictorian.”
Dead silence. Peter took yet another slurp of his drink.
“...Say that again?” Oliver asked. Peter repeated himself.
“And you didn’t tell us?”
“Listen, I only know because Professor Yew-Kin emailed me a week ago! My family doesn’t even know!”
“Your family doesn’t know?!”
Flash forward three-and-a-half-hours later. Peter was still freaking out. His nicely ironed shirt had to be soaked through with sweat. Why had he agreed to being valedictorian? Peter’s palms were like two small saunas on his thighs, but he didn’t know where else to put his hands. Earlier, Bruce had texted where the family was sitting and Peter resisted the urge to look for them, fearing what his siblings would do if they found him, or worse, caught him looking at them. Everyone was here, even Babs and Alfred. It was a little scary.
Peter sat between a person named Hugo and a person named Lillian. Hugo was a familiar face. Peter had seen him around campus as they had classes in the same building. He was tall, not too much taller than Peter, but bigger in general. It was unfair that a civilian had bigger biceps than a vigilante who ran around Gotham at least three nights a week, but Peter wasn’t going to dwell on it.
Lillian, however, Peter had no idea who she was but she had hit on him no less than five times since they sat down. He was trying oh-so-hard not to grimace. Hugo and whoever was sitting on her right looked amused.
“Lillian,” Peter cut her off. “I’m aromantic. I don’t want to date you.” Her mouth dropped open. Peter watched her, unblinking, then nearly burst out laughing when she simply turned to the guy on her right and started hitting on him. He and Hugo exchanged highly amused glances.
Finally, their line started getting called up to get their diplomas. Peter was maybe going to throw up.
When Hugo’s name was announced, Peter gave him a fist bump, waiting impatiently for his own to be called.
“Peter Parker-Wayne.” That got some looks, but Peter wasn't focused on anyone except the guy handing his diploma. He shook his hand and proceeded to shake everyone else’s hand on stage because his many different parental figures didn’t raise no impolite child. At the end of the stage he posed with his diploma, beaming at his adoptive family.
As he made it down the stairs, one of the staff members guided him to a different seat, closer to the stage for his speech.
He clapped for everyone, the urge to throw up or maybe even pass out growing with every second. Wow, okay. Time to breathe normally before he hyperventilated.
He waited for the speakers to do their speech, clapping when necessary. One guest speaker was a heavyset balding man who was an editor for the Gotham Gazette. The other was a tall, black woman who ran a business selling soap. Good for her. Peter nervously waited for his turn to go up.
Peter’s hand thunked against the side of his chair, tapping out a random pattern. The hard plastic felt sticky, even through his khakis and graduation robe. Peter wondered how long this would take. Surprisingly, his super hearing wasn't acting up too much. He didn't feel like he was on the verge of a sensory overload. When Peter zoned back in, the current speaker was finishing up. Oh God.
“And now, I would like to call up our valedictorian, Peter Parker-Wayne to deliver the final speech.”
This is it. Peter thought nervously. He climbed the stage again, head held high. When he glanced at his family, they all looked stunned except Babs and Cass. He was unsurprised they found out, it was impossible to keep secrets from them. As he reached the podium, Duke whistled loudly, giving him two thumbs up. Of course he recovered before the others. Peter gave a shy thumbs up back.
“Good afternoon parents, friends, teachers, mentors, administrators and of course, the graduating Class of 2021. Today is one of the most exciting days in our lives. We’re graduating college. Take a moment and think about the fact that we did it.” Peter paused a moment, before repeating; “We did it! We graduated college, and we’re officially Nighthawk alumni. We made it. And that is incredible. Before I continue, I would like to take a moment to remember our fallen peers who were victims of the last Joker and Scarecrow attack. Nikola, Breekon, and Gabriel.” Peter paused again, significantly longer. After a few moments, he started speaking again.
“In remembrance, we have added their names to the side of the main library, which has the names of past student victims. As we mourn our losses, we must look ahead to the future. In our graduating class, we have future teachers, scientists, doctors, lawyers and more. We are the future as much as we are the present. We must use our newfound strength to build a better future for our parents, our peers, our children, and us. There was a reason we all chose Gotham University other than collective Stockholm Syndrome. In our entire graduating class, we had two hundred and thirty six international students and five hundred seventy four out of state students. So I don’t think it’s just collective Stockholm Syndrome.” He joked. Luckily, he got lots of laughter, which helped calm his nerves.
“I moved to Gotham when I was sixteen. I didn’t grow up here, but I also didn’t have much of a childhood in New York. My parents died when I was six. I don’t have any memory of them; I’m sad to say. I went to live with my aunt and uncle, who had no children until me. They weren’t poor, but an unexpected six year old certainly didn’t help. We made do, though. We Parkers are resilient, after all." Peter paused to shoot the crowd a crooked smile.
"Unfortunately, when I was twelve, my uncle got shot in front of me and only two years later, my aunt died. At fourteen, I lost the very last of my family. When I met my now-adopted brother, I was sixteen and living on the streets of New York City. Bear with me now, there’s a point to me trauma dumping on all of you.” He paused and cleared his throat, resisting the urge to glance at his family again.
“When I moved to Gotham, it was definitely a change compared to NYC. I can’t say we had as many frequent Rogue attacks, but I also can’t say New Yorkers banded together like Gothamites do,” He rushed to finish that line. “And before you start, this is not slander! This is simply an observation. I’ll never forget the first Rogue attack I got caught in. It was a Scarecrow attack and I was out getting a book for school. I never did, in fact, get that book, because the alarms started blaring so loudly I thought I was gonna die. I didn’t know what was going on. Some older lady, I will be forever thankful for, saw me frozen and grabbed my arm, bringing me inside the nearest store. She also explained what was going on and gave me a gas mask. We later learned that two men died not a block away from a fear gas overdose. She saved my life.”
Peter paused to take another breath.
“Since that moment, I noticed how much Gothamites helped each other. It might have been in subtle ways, like holding open a door, or drastic ways like defending each other from crooks in the streets or even escaped Rogues. I do believe that under our tough exteriors we are kind people. Non-Gothamites may scorn us, may taunt us, or bully us, but there is no other city that protects their people like we do. And I’m not talking about the city’s vigilantes. I’m talking about the civilians. We are kind people, no matter what others might say. So how, may I ask, are you going to help our city?” He paused, before adding, “Thank you.”
~~
Hours later, Peter was still riding the high the applause gave him. He remembered being tackled to the floor by Jason, Steph, and Duke, as a laughing, sobbing mess when he met up with his family. Peter could faintly hear the sound of paparazzi cameras but he couldn't give two shits. He knew Bruce had recorded his speech like the soccer mom he was and there's no way Barbara didn't have it recorded either.
Peter ended up squished between Damian and Cass on the way back to the manor. Cass had an arm snaked around his middle, while Damian was quietly sketching, a stark difference from Dick and Jason in the front seats, practically screaming the lyrics to Les Mis. Peter obviously joined them for “Do You Hear The People Sing?” He was not a heathen, but other than that, he simply basked in the presence of his family.
Jason was subtly edging their car faster than the one right beside theirs - the one with Alfred, Bruce, Tim, Steph, Duke, and Babs. When they both stopped at a red light, the passenger seat window rolled down. Jason rolled his down, raising his middle finger. Alfred coughed pointedly from the driver’s seat.
“What?” Jason called, as Damian rolled down his window to hear.
“I have a question for Peter.” Bruce responded. Peter glanced up, giving Bruce half a heart with his finger. Bruce sent the heart back.
“What’s up, B?” He chirped.
“Were you ever going to tell us you were the valedictorian?” He asked.
Peter thought for a long moment. Just as the light turned green, he replied, brightly,
“Nope!”
Jason shot the car forward as Dick turned up “The Brotherhood of Man.”
Oh, aren’t you proud to be in that fraternity?
The great big brotherhood of man! (Plus Cass!)