Chapter Text
Bruce Wayne wasn’t sure how to react when his second-to-youngest son asked him about the circus that was coming to Gotham. For any other city, a travelling circus might not be the news of the month, but to Gothamites it was incredibly suspicious and unusual. The last time they had a circus in town, two of their main performers died and left behind their son (Bruce’s oldest child). Now, Bruce understood why his son was asking about it, because he trained him like that: be on high alert all the time, never trust anyone undeserving and question everything. They were detectives, it was their job to investigate and protect the citizens of their city.
And this circus was anything but inconspicuous.
Their main performers all wore masks or make-up that disguised their faces completely. They have been performing for years, around fifteen years at least, but they have never set foot in Gotham before. No one sets foot in Gotham unless they have no other choice or are incredibly stupid. Bruce wished it was the second option, but experience told him otherwise. Which is why he agreed to accompany his kids to go see one show of the Spiders’ Den.
He knew it was a recon mission, but a part of him felt happy to have an outing with his children. Not all of them went, Steph decided to cover patrol, Duke hated clowns and Dick… he didn’t need to know right now. Not until they had more intel.
The tent was big and colorful, the seats weren’t very high, but enough to see perfectly any trick by the aerialists. Just the thought of the trapeze artists flying around was enough to make Bruce mentally shudder. Not physically, he wouldn’t let anyone see him get scared. The trapeze was very high, one wrong move and it’d be the Flying Graysons all over again. Cass decided to go find the perfect seats with Tim while Bruce went to buy the drinks and popcorn.
While he paid the food-stand man, he thought he felt a piercing gaze set upon him, he turned thinking it was one of his kids but as soon as he did that, he realized there was no one there, or that’s what it seemed. That was weird. He went back with two large buckets on one arm and three drinks on the other. He doesn’t usually drink soda, it was too sweet and artificial for him, but Cass enjoyed it quite a lot and who was Bruce to deny her anything, really?
“Saw something interesting outside, B?” Tim asked him, taking a fist of popcorn to his mouth.
“Couldn’t be sure. I thought I saw someone, but there was no one when I turned.”
“Huh… Oh, shit is about to start.”
A drum roll started, and people were edging their seats as they impatiently cheered for the show to commence. From a purple cloud, a masked fat man appeared wearing a red and blue three-piece suit and a tall black hat, he was wearing a cheshire grin that was equally parts charming and alarming.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, my friends, to the spiders’ den,” he said everything with a rhyming cadence. They were probably the only three people there that had a bad feeling about the whole show. “Widen your eyes, open your minds and wait to see them shine. My spiders love to crawl, and they love to jump.” He said as a rope fell from the ceiling, he held onto it and started getting lifted away. “And don’t be scared, my prey, if you get caught in a spider’s web.”
The music was loud, but not uncomfortable, for the whole show. The performers were enchanting, Bruce was somewhat pleased to see his fellow Gothamites happy for once, they were elated and laughing like they haven’t in a while. It was a nice reminder of his reason to do what he did, it was for them.
Cass was studying the room, in more detail than before. She was a trained spy, made to feel every eye and any threat that may come her way. She was sensing something but couldn’t pin-point what or where it was. To her, it seemed to be everywhere. Like a real spider, crawling around the tent and sizing them up. After a few minutes, however, that feeling went away. Nonetheless, her wariness didn’t go away; in fact, the opposite happened, and her mind just studied the place even further.
Tim wasn’t handling the place much better; he was filming the whole place with a small camera hidden on his glasses, a small gadget he helped perfectionate by making the image was the highest resolution possible (his next step was installing a mic that could capture any sound in a seven foot radius), he already had a few working theories and he looked around for anything to confirm them. Even if the circus was nice and had a stellar reputation, why on earth would they come to Gotham of all places? The city where one of the main bad guys was a clown. He trembled at the possibility of the circus being under the control of the Joker. Previously, he had looked into the cities they toured in, and they didn’t have a pattern, some nights were in Central City, Missouri and then they popped up at Costal City, California. They were getting around fast and without continuity, which meant they weren’t doing shows in between cities. That worried him the most, because it meant they had an objective in each city they were in and the circus, was most probably, just a front. They usually stayed three nights, but that wasn’t consistent either, as if they had to disappear fast. It wouldn’t have been weird if the circus was a drug front or the like, maybe it had deals with some Mafiosos.
“My friends, my guys, the moment you’ve been waiting for just arrived. He’s strong, brave and fast, small but with talent to last. Everyone, let me introduce you to Spider-Man.”
The light dimmed, taking them out of their minds and making them focus on the show. A red and yellow kid with a domino mask with eight eyes drawn on it climbed to the top of an aerialist platform, Bruce thought he climbed the stairs very fast and took a second to notice that the stairs for the platform were gone. When he made the first jump, Bruce felt the nostalgic déjà vú creep from the bottom of his heart to the top of his brain. He felt teary-eyed. The second trick was even more impressive, his body bent as if bones were a joke to him, he rolled in the air like gravity was his to manage. While grabbed to the bars, he spined with two hands, one hand even with no hands, just his torso and his fast movements.
For the third trick, he tried to reach the catching bar, but he flew too short to succeed, and he was falling. The bars disappeared in the dark, and when Spider-Man was about to meet his death, a web came out of his wrist and caught him before his demise. Everyone gasped and cheered for him as he continued with an aerial silk act, with the silk that “came out” of his wrists. He dropped himself and picked himself up at a speed difficult to comprehend, not even the up-beat music could keep up with Spider-Man. He did the splits in the air, but something about them was off, Tim couldn’t explain what it was. Maybe if Grayson was there, he could explain better.
For the last trick, the MC came out and addressed the audience. Spider-Man maintained distance between them, walking away step by step. No one even noticed when he disappeared until the MC pointed it out:
“Is he here? Is he there? Where could have a spider crawled away?”
Small and trembling hands covered Bruce’s face. He didn’t even notice someone was behind him. And for just a second, he felt scared. The kid’s presence was one he knew very well, the presence of an assassin.
“Bruce Wayne, in the flesh! Would you mind stepping into the stage?”
It was an invitation to be part of the act, he wanted to decline, but Brucie Wayne would never turn down the invitation to shine.
“Oh, but of course. Here, Tim, take my popcorn!” The arachnid kid guided Bruce through the crowd of people clapping. Next to the child, Bruce could tell he was very young, maybe ten at the most. One the one hand, the kid inspired such a familiar feeling in him, his heart wanted to lower his guard and take the child home. On the other hand, there was a possibility that the kid was trained. He was sure his own children took note of that. “Wow, kid. Strong grip, you’re gonna take my arm off.”
The kid froze for a moment and gave him a face that was a mix of sorry and embarrassment. He softened his grip and Bruce smiled at him. The public laughed because how could a kid hurt a grown adult? However, the kid was truly strong.
Once they were on the stage and people cheered him on, the MC told him to stand in the middle of the stage as a ring hanging from a silk lowered and Spider-Man wrapped himself around it.
“Now, ladies and gents, Bruce Wayne will spin and fly and probably pee his pants!”
The crowd wanted to laugh, but they were interrupted when Spider-Man, the little kid that was as heavy as a wet leaf, lifted Bruce with just his arms and upside down. The ring spined around and people stood up trying to touch Bruce, but they were too high up. Bruce was surprised, he was six foot two, built like a brick and could bench-press Superman. And the kid was holding him like he weighed less than a sheet of paper.
When they stopped, Brucie made a show of getting dizzy and holding his head.
“God, what a ride! You’re something else, kid!”
Spider-Man looked at him and then at the public as he flexed his biceps showing the slightest amount of muscle. His body was more similar to one of a dancer, or spy, than a bodybuilder.
The child looked at Bruce with that horrible creepy mask and smiled at him.
Bruce saw Dick, and when he asked for a hug, the adult couldn’t refuse. And luckily, he didn’t, because when he bent down to bring the child into his arms, Spider-Man whispered in his ear:
“Help me, Batman.”
Richard Grayson knew about the travelling circus that was coming to Gotham since it was the only thing anyone could talk about. Wally tried to keep him distracted but even the people at Blüdhaven were excited for it. And he couldn’t blame them, that particular circus was fairly famous for a travelling circus, they had very talented performers and recently they added a new act with a kid that they called Spider-Man. The Spiders’ Den had everyone dressed as a spider, some even had fake extra legs and masks with eyes on them. It was an interesting gimmick that attracted a lot of people.
When Dick watched a video of Spider-Man’s act, he knew he had to go and see it for himself. He felt something impossible to explain, but if he had to try, the closest synonym he could come up with was nostalgia. Something about the kid was so much like he was in the past. He was very young—maybe even the age Dick was when he lost his parents—and he wasn’t performing with anyone; it was just him alone. He was clearly very skilled because he had perfectly captured the essence of a spider with his act.
Wally and he went to the circus because Dick needed to put a name to that feeling on his chest. He became confused when that feeling turned into a fluttered as the kid danced in the air and controlled his movements like a professional of many years.
“… You’re gonna take my arm off.”
His heart stopped when he saw his dad being swung around like Diana’s Lasso of Truth. He knew there were techniques for a smaller person to carry a larger person and make it seem like no effort was put into it, but it didn’t seem like that. There was a chance the kid was a meta with superstrength, he could be Kryptonian even. But Dick put that thought aside and wondered why his dad and his siblings were there. He can understand why they didn’t tell him, but why were they there to begin with? Was it a mission?
There was something deeper going on.
When the show ended and everyone went home, Dick knew he had to find Spider-Man.
“Wally,” he was going to tell his improvised plan to his boyfriend, but he just gave him a knowing smile.
“Copy that.”
The MC was talking to a girl, Spider-Man was nowhere in sight. The girl was young, maybe around seventeen, and was clearly uncomfortable around the grown dressed-to-impressed man. She was looking around for someone, but before they could interfere, Spider-Man appeared, still wearing his mask but wearing comfortable clothes instead of his suit. The simple tee and the Bermuda jeans allowed Dick to see the bruises on his skin. Some of them he could have gotten when he was training, but there were finger marks on his neck and wrist…God. Spider-man gave the woman a look and a wallet, then he bowed to her like a true showman.
She ran away. Dick confirmed something was off.
The MC grabbed angrily Spider-Man’s arm, he grabbed it so hard Dick feared it could break.
“Ya’ messing with ma’ game, Parka’? ‘ready tolcha to not interfere. Ya’ lucky we rescued ya’, kid. Whatta about some goddamn respect? C’mere!”
Dick was about to walk up to him and punch him in the face, it would’ve been his right. But Wally stopped him and pointed to some of the crew:
“They’re armed, Dick. We need a strategy.”
At that moment, his phone vibrated. It showed a message from his family group chat:
Possible trafficking front. The Spiders’ Den. Everyone to Cave.
-Luv, Buttman.
Tim, eliminate that signature from my phone.
-Luv, Buttman.
“The Bats are already on the case. I have to go to the Cave.”
Wally knew better than appear not invited to the Batcave, especially if it was case related. Dick’s dad was a great superhero, and an okay man most of the time, but he didn’t like other heroes meddling in Gotham. It wasn’t their place, although sometimes Wally could get away with it since he’s been living in Blüdhaven for a year and has been dating Dick for longer, still, it wasn’t time to discuss that. Dick walked into the cave where most of his brothers and sisters were already waiting for him.
“All of us are here,” Bruce said. Dick knew everyone that needed to be there was there, but he hated when his dad said that like Jason shouldn’t be around. Like he wasn’t part of the team. Well, he wasn’t anymore, but he should be. If he wasn’t busy stomping over people’s head. “Tim, tell us what you found.”
“During the last fifteen years, the Spiders’ Den has appeared and reappeared around the US without a concrete pattern, and from every city they were in, someone from their crowd has disappeared. We can confirm that eight kidnapping cases from the last fifteen years have been of people that attended their shows.”
“We’re talking more than two thousand over fifteen years, and we only have eight. During those years they changed crew, leaders, acts and popularity. That’s not enough proof. It’s not even one percent of the shows they did.” Duke said.
“True, but in the last two years, there have been three cases of girls that were kidnapped from a state and reappeared, traumatized and speechless, in another state. And you know what they all had in common, they disappeared from and were found in the states the circus was in. Now, we don’t have proof they went to the circus, after all they don’t charge entrance and their cards didn’t show any activity that specified circus or Spiders’ Den, but one of the girls was found with a bunch of spider bites that sadly, ended her life.”
“We could invite the current boss of the circus, right? Like a welcome-to-Gotham banquet as the Wayne’s? We could pretend to have heard about their other business and see if they let slip anything?” Stephanie suggested, and it wasn’t a bad idea, not at all. However, Bruce and Dick weren’t convinced.
“It’s risky. Plus, if they are trafficking and that comes to light, it could damage the image of the Wayne family. We can’t involve ourselves with such a scandal. And even if we ended up as the heroes, our covers could be blown. No one would believe Bruce Wayne just found out the truth on his own.”
“We could use Spider-Man.” Dick suggested as his stomach rolled disgusted with the idea. Batman stood quiet, looking at Dick discerning if he knew something and wasn’t sharing. However, Bruce was hiding something, too. “I’ll tell if you do.”
“It’s not truly a secret. The kid was the one who asked for my help. But, when he did, he called me Batman. He knew who I was, I don’t understand how, but hey, it wouldn’t be the first time a kid found out my identity.” He looked at Tim, who chuckled a bit.
“Don’t go and surprise adopt him, dad. He’s traumatized enough.”
“I went today to see the show,” Dick confessed, and gain the attention of everyone around. “And I stayed until the end because I had a bad feeling. And thank God I did, the MC was trying to flirt with a girl who was too young for him. Like teenage young, and when Spider-Man helped her ran away, the guy became violent with him, screaming about how he ought to be grateful. It was brutal.” He couldn’t bring himself to explain the rough state the kid was in. His heart hurt.
“But how could we approach Spider-Man? If he’s a victim, he won’t be doing regular activities, he probably can’t get away from them for even a minute!” Damian voiced his opinion, but to that Cass had a response.
“Jason.”
The air tensed and no one wanted to voice their opinion. Their crime lord brother was a sensitive topic. One of them but who didn’t do things by the book. Red Hood was a known criminal with a long list of bodies that created castles of horror just by mentioning his name. Yet, Jason… he was still Dick’s little brother. That didn’t mean Cass wasn’t right, Red Hood could get in touch with the boss and talk “business”. Only Gothamites knew he wouldn’t hurt a kid, to the rest of the world, he was just a brutal and merciless killer.
“I’ll talk to him.”
“YOU FUCKER!” Leo slapped him so hard he fell to the ground. Peter didn’t defend himself, he couldn’t. They had tied him up and Peter didn’t fight it. They kept him fed, they gave him a roof and a job, they promised to not call his last place if he kept quiet. So, Peter didn’t fight. “Ya’ know we have a client that’s picky, he liked them like that. Young, dark hair, real nice and polite. He wanna give us tons of his cash. Didja wanna take her place? Y’know what he do to girls like that?” Leo grabbed his hair and smacked him once more.
“You told me to go find her wallet. I did.”
“Don’t play dumb with me, kid.” His voice was raspy, and spit came out of his mouth and splatted on Peter’s face. “Want me to call yer mama? Betcha she wanna see ya ‘gain.”
“No. Nononono. Please, Mr. Leo, I can’t go back.” He hated his weakness. If he ever got out, that part of him would die and rot.
“Untie the kid.” His boss ordered. Bald and Flaco followed the order, getting rid of the rope around Peter’s wrists. He ran to Leo’s legs and hugged them. He wanted to throw up; he disgusted himself when he acted like a wounded puppy that couldn’t live without its owner. But he did it to survive. “Look at ya’, I couldn’t let that son of a gun put a finger on ya’.” He petted Peter’s head as if love was a word he knew, as if his heart wasn’t a window to one of the circles of hell.
Peter hoped someone would come.
He knew he met Batman today. It was obvious to him. He liked studying after all, and books for kids were mostly about the heroes of the city. And when he was able to use the library, he would spend all of his time researching the heroes. When he read about Batman and his family, it was obvious to him that he was Bruce Wayne: If Batman adopted a child, Bruce adopted a child; If Batman got seriously injured, Bruce got injured. And there weren’t many billionaires with a moral compass in Gotham, so yeah. Bruce was Batman. No matter how hard he pretended not to be.
“Now, now. Doncha cry me a river, kid. We can’t let our main performer get tired. Everyone comes to see ya, Pete.”
Peter arrived at the Spiders’ Den about two years ago, maybe a little more than that, after he escaped his mother, a scientist and ex C.I.A that became obsessed with the idea of being watched and persecuted. She went crazy, they were living underground with very little to eat or do, he was only allowed to train. After a few years, they moved to a research facility where they poked him and passed him around. Everything was a fog, he could barely remember a thing. The only thing he knew about the place was that he couldn’t go back.
He ran into Leo when he was nine, although he didn’t look it. Peter had saved his life, and he regretted it so much.
Peter was dumpster diving when he heard the first gunshot, his sixth sense acted fast and pulled the stranger behind the dumpster with him. Leo was being chased by his last dealer, he didn’t have enough money because the circus wasn’t performing well, and he was lacking victims. His circus was a front for trafficking, although Peter didn’t know that at that time. And a few years ago, it was performing poorly and therefore they didn’t have a big enough pool to fish for their next victim. Their clients were picky, they had specific requests, and they wanted to appease them. Leo had inherited the business from his dad, who was deep in debt and a bad move from him, and he was done.
“Damn kid, yer strong.”
The guy that was chasing him found them and Peter attacked, a few punches to the gut and the dude was down. Leo laughed next to him and hugged him. It was the first time someone had hugged Peter (with the years, that sign of love would become a source of nightmares for him.)
“Y’know, kid. Imma make ya a star.”
Peter trusted the wrong person, told him about his past, and he found out way too late about his mistake. He had started performing with the Spiders’ Den and became somewhat famous on social media. A small kid with the strength of a thousand men and the flexibility of a real spider. Spider-Man was the main earner of the circus, so they kept him around.
They gave him a roof, food that he didn’t have to hunt for, and sometimes they even gave him love. For a while, that was enough. He could sometimes help victims escape. Even if he couldn’t. He even had his own room; he slept on the roof. It felt nice to make himself a ball and sleep in a corner upside down. His body was part spider, after all.
Now, he was just angry. Angry at himself, at Leo, at the fucking goons for doing what they were told, and at the heroes for never rescuing him. Although he was confused with that last one, because if the heroes put away Leo and his crew then Peter would have to go back to the street, no one would look kindly at him if they knew he stayed with them. Maybe the heroes would take him to jail, too.
Someone was at his door. He could hear them.
“Come in!” Peter shouted and through the door came Benny, an old guy that owed a pretty big debt to the Den, he never told Peter what he did, just that he regretted a lot what he did. He usually brought him food and lent him some of his books about chemistry and math. He taught him a lot, how to care for plants, how to look at people kindly. Peter liked him. “Benny!”
“Oh, my boy. What did he do to you?” Benny was a New Orleanian with a smooth voice and a kind smile. “I swear, one of these days I’ll lose my cool. How can he do this to you, my boy?”
Peter felt loved when he called him “my boy”.
“How much today?”
Benny was in charge of the lighting and special effects. He earned little, but he promised that once he repaid his debt to Leo, they would both ran away and never look back. He was one of the reasons Peter stayed.
“$102, my boy. We just need two grand more and we go away, kid. No more of this life, you already thought of your new name?”
“I’ll be Matt, it sounds really cool. Yours?”
“I’ll be Richard, like my dad.”
“My dad was also named Richard!” He said, although he wasn’t completely sure about that. His mother once said something about a Richard being the other DNA for Peter. He hadn’t wanted to probe, so he had left it at that. But he remembered.
“You’re adorable, kid. Never change.”
Benny ruffled his hair, and Peter stayed silent. He had to change, but for a second, he left himself believe he was fine.
“Any last words pig?” Jason was sitting on his chair while reading an old romance novel. In his other hand, he had a gun pointing to a guy who was tied up and terrified. “Huh, nothing. Not even like this?”
“Please, forgive me. I’ll never do it again.”
“Ya stole from me, pig. Forgiveness and pity don’t mend the past. Ya broke it, ya pay for it.”
“NO—”
Red Hood shot. His guys took the man away.
Then Nightwing made himself know.
“I hate that you do this.”
“No one will miss that piece of shit, stealing from me was the least of his evils.” Nightwing got closer to his brother with a piece of cloth and cleaned his face with care. It was one of the little gestures Jason would let him do without his anger acting up. “Whatcha doing here, golden boy?”
“We need your help—”
“Ha, that’s rich. The old man needs me? His screw up? That’s a joke, right?”
“We need you to get in contact with the boss of the Spiders’ Den.”
“Leonardo Avantico? That guy?”
“You know him?” Dick was surprised, he didn’t expect that. If their suspicions were correct, Jason would not have left him get away with any more kidnappings. And Spider-Man would be safe.
“His dad was kind of a cautionary tale, a junkie that thought he was the shit and lost everything in one day. Haven’t heard about them in a while.”
“So, they are dirty?”
“I mean, yeah. They were. I don’t know about that.” That helped Dick to understand the situation better.
“We believe Leonardo is trafficking children and is currently holding a kid hostage.”
Red Hood squirmed in his chair; his eyes started to glow toxic green.
“Is that so?”
“If you can get in contact with him and find out his true business before they go away again, we believe we might be able to save two girls and the kid they have hostage. He asked for our help, Hood. I saw him… beaten, weak. He was like ten, just a little boy. He shouldn’t know about those tragedies at that age.”
“You and I saw tons of that before that age.”
“And now you’re a crime lord with daddy issues and I went on a killing rampage just a few years ago. Your point?” Red Hood chuckled and punched his brother softly. “Oh, and one more thing. Something I haven’t even told da— B.”
“What is it?”
“The kid is probably meta.”
“How d’ya figure?”
“He’s a performer, and he was able to lift B like it was nothing. I was able to convince them it could’ve been SFX. I wanted to be sure first, because if B found out we were dealing with a meta child, he could do something dangerous. He wouldn’t wait and just act because he would know how much damage that child could do.” One of the goons brought him a chair so he could sit and chat with his brother. They were in one of his many safe houses, one of the few Dick knew about.
“Damn, a meta kid. Who knows what kind of shit he saw, and what he could do.” Red Hood inclined his chair and bounced it.
“Are you in, little Wing?”
“All the way, big Wing. I promise we’ll get this guy. And if we do, B better catch him first or I’ll apply my own justice.”
“Deal.”