Chapter Text
There was nothing more nauseating then being pulled out of your universe and thrown into a different one, at least that's what he assumed had happened. Dick tried his best to stand himself up and get a look at his surroundings, he certainly wasn't in Blüdhaven anymore or Gotham for that matter. Was he even in New Jersey?
The first thing that made him think he was in a different universe and not just some type of time travel was murals he seen that painted the buildings downtown, there was a hero with a red and yellow mask, and scattered of sayings of Mysterio was right! It was possible that these were made up heroes or maybe unpopular ones, but he wasn't entirely sure that's as the case.
Dick was searching for other clues unto passed a trash can that had a smashed newspapers in it, he quickly grabbed it. Right away it was obvious he wasn't in Jersey as the paper was titled 'Daily Bugle News, most reliable in all of New York' also it's date was a bit further in the future. He started to scan the rest of the paper only to be met with unfamiliar names, Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man? Towards the back there was an article that talked about Iron Man's passing and it briefly mentioned time travel. He kept reading to find something more recent, there was a Spider-Man case where he was accused of murder, but he turned out to be innocent. Huh? It said that Spiderman worked in New-York, maybe he could find him.
Dick weighed his options, he was in what appeared to be an alternate earth by himself with little knowledge and no resources, he could lay low for a while and try to build a temporary life here before he can find his own way home or he could try and track down a hero who may be able to help him much quicker or at least take him to someone who can. Ah yes a hero who he knew hardly anything about, and there was no guarantee he would even believe him right?
If the hero wasn't friendly, Dick was sure he could handle himself, or if he didn't believe him then he'd just find a way to prove it or move on. He needed to got back home, he had responsibilities and he had his family, so far asking for help is the only solid plan he has so he might as well try it, now If only he knew where to start looking.
Currently Dick was just awkwardly roaming the city and trying to see if he could spot Spider-Man swinging through, this was definitely one of his worst plans but it was the best one he had. "You looking for something sir?" Dick turned his head to see a hotdog vendor talking to him. "Uh, yes actually, I'm trying to find Spider-Man, I need his help with something" Dick replied while feeling kind of foolish. Surprisingly the vendor just chuckled "You're in the right place then, he comes almost everyday in the evening, something about having a fast metabolism and needing to have a meal in between patrols, if you wait around here you might catch him"
Dick blinked, well that was very fortunate. He took the vendors word for it and stood in the area, it took a while for the hero show up but eventually he did, at first he greeted the vendor like normal seemingly not noticing Dick. He cleared his throat and the hero turned to look at him. For a minute he could swear that Spider-man knew he was in the wrong universe just by his reaction, the hero choked and physically jumped back when he seen him.
"Excuse me, ...Spider-man I'm sorry to be interrupt you but I could really use your help" Dick waited for a response, after a beat, Spider-man nodded rapidly as if to clear his thoughts and walked towards him. "I'll be back for the hotdog later" he said to the vendor who shrugged in response.
"How about we go somewhere more private to talk" he wrapped an arm around Dick's torso, before he could question what he was doing Spider-man shot a web at a near by building and started to swing them there, Dick supposed this is how surprised people felt when he did it to them.
Spiderman eventually landed on a rooftop before taking a massive step back from Dick, he seemed anxious almost or awkward. Before Dick could speak Spiderman went first "What's your name by the way?" He asked hurriedly. Dick raised his eyebrows, "Oh, I'm Richard Grayson but you can call me Dick".
-
Peter bit the inside of his cheek, he thought he was imagining it maybe and that this man just coincidentally looked like his Dad, but he has the same name as him to or at least the name he had before he was adopted by the Parker's. He needed to pull himself together and get to the bottom of this.
Dick went to speak but Peter interrupted him. "Weird question but you wouldn't happen to have time traveled or be in a different universe or something right?"
Dick looked taken aback "Yes, the uh second one, how can you tell?". Peter wasn't sure how to word this. "I knew the Richard Grayson of this universe and he's... gone now" Peter took a deep breath in. "It's alright though, believe it or not you aren't the first person from a different universe I had to help get home" he said smoothly.
"This happens often?" He raised an eyebrow, Peter stuttered "Yeah, there was a tear in the multiverse a couple of months back (that totally wasn't his fault) and a lot of people got through that way. I thought that the problem was fixed but considering your here there must be something we missed" Peter glanced at Dick who had a blank expression on his face.
"I should take you do Doctor strange he's a wizard-er I mean former sorcerer supreme, and master of the mystic arts. I'm also pretty sure his spell is the one that brought you here" Peter continued to ramble, Dick tried his best to follow along but he had a lot on his mind and it was getting hard to.
-
That's pretty much how they ended up where they were and knocking on said wizard- I mean sorcerer's door. When it was opened Spider-man quickly greeted the person inside "Hey Wong, is Dr.Strange around by chance?". Wong looked unamused "No he is on a 'off world' mission right now, what is it that you need-" He eyed Dick wearily before sighing. Like Dr. Strange sensed that the villains he encountered previously weren't from this Universe Wong had as well and, was deeply disappointed.
"Unfortunately I cannot assist you myself as it isn't my spell, but you have my word that I will make Strange fix this immediately when he returns". Wait, does that mean Dick was stranded here until this 'Doctor Strange' returned?
"Is he the only one that got through?" Wong was now talking to Spider-man who seemed just as deflated as Dick was. "As far as I'm aware yeah, and it's been a couple months since the spell was originally cast and we hadn't any problem so far" Spider-man added.
"So the spell is working, but something is preventing it from being complete" Wong looked deep in thought before turning to Dick. "This man, is there a reason why he was pulled here in particular, is he connected to you in some way?"
Spider-man tensed as he looked at Dick. "Yeah" he said gently, Dick's eyebrows knit together. "What?" He asked. Spider-man took a deep breath in before slowly taking off his mask. Dick looked at him surprised, he couldn't be older then 16 and he had brown curly hair, soft brown eyes, dimples, in fact he kind of reminded Dick of as younger self-wait. His expression dropped as he stared at the kid in front of him.
"My name is Peter Parker, and in this universe Richard Grayson or Parker after he got adopted, is...my Dad" he said awkwardly. Um What? Dick blanched as he stared at Spider-he means Peter, his Peter, well not his Peter per se, but what could have been his son? This was too much to take in at one time.
"How about we go back to my apartment, you can stay with me until we can get you home?" Peter offered. Dick studied him and his expression softened "Alright" he said before following Peter out.
-
Peter's apartment was definitely not what Dick had expected, it could be described as very small and the building itself being a bit sketchy. His gaze fell to a photo that sat at Peter's bedside, it had both him and another man he never met before, if he had to guess he would say that they were brothers based off how they were interacting.
Dick was reminded of his brothers briefly and hoped they handled everything well. He tore his eyes from the photo and looked back at Peter" Do you live alone?" He asked while sitting down on the only chair in the apartment. Peter bit his lip, "Yeah I do"
Dick didn't want to force information right away but he couldn't help but be curious about what was happening and considering his nature as being a vigilante he couldn't stop himself. "How old are you?" He asked slyly. Peter turned towards him "I'm 16, I uh graduated early" he replied. "And your already living by yourself?" Dick pressed.
Peter stiffened "Yeah, but it's fine I make it work" He noticed the sympathetic expression painted on Dick's face and Peter forced himself to look at the ground. "...You have people who look after you though, right?". Dick's chest tightened as Peter shook his head.
There was a long pause and Peter thought hard about what to say next he could just say 'no' and move on or he could give him a real explanation of why he was here, but he didn't want to lay his life story on a stranger, and it didn't help that the stranger looked exactly like his dad and that he deserved an explanation on why he was stuck here, so he told him everything, from what happened with Uncle Ben when he got his powers, loosing Mr. Stark, making the wrong choice to trust Mysterio, how Peter made a spell to protect the people he cared about, Peter screwing it up, loosing Aunt May, then about how they cast the original spell and how no one remembers him now. He tried to explain why he didn't find his friends after everything but he doubted that Dick would understand, it was Peter's job to protect them and he already did enough damage.
Dick listened patiently and left his chair to go and sit on the mattress next to Peter. He put a hand on his shoulder in a attempt to comfort him. After a minute Peter when regained his composure and blinked away the forming tears. He looked up at Dick and smiled "You know everyone else who got stuck here turned out to be a supervillain or a hero, I think your the first normal person who went through"
Dick gave Peter a sheepish smile. "It's funny you'd mention that-" he hesitated before he pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal a black and blue super suit. "I'm actually a vigilante, my name is Nightwing"
Oh, Peter felt his brain lag when he told him this. "Do you have any superpowers?" He asked. "No, I don't but I'm trained in combat and have had a lot of experience" Dick explained. Peter hummed as he took that all in. A part of his was actually really impressed, maybe Dick understood his situation a lot better then Peter thought he did.
When the two finished chatting, Peter had gotten an old air mattress out for Dick to sleep on. Peter had used it when he first moved in and hadn't gotten a bed yet, he was suddenly grateful he procrastinated donating it.
As the two laid in their beds, Peter was halfway asleep while Dick was staring at the ceiling, there was a question he's been itching to ask. "Was I-Uh I mean he a good dad?"
Peter's eyes shot open and he sat up to look at Dick, for a minute he was to surprised to say anything "... Yeah, you-he really was the best" he said finally. Even though it was dark and he couldn't see to well, he could tell that Dick was smiling to himself. "That's good to know".