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Peter sat on the asphalt in Gotham with long hair and a skirt on, and he wanted to throw up right then and there. He had never felt so helpless before. As Spider-Man, he didn't have to worry about his safety, but as a transgender ten-year-old boy with no powers and no guardians, his sense of security was slipping away as quickly as Peter's confidence when he took off his costume. He thought about asking someone for help, but no matter how much he looked at the street, everything seemed dangerous, and he couldn't stop being afraid. It was dark everywhere, people were unfriendly to say the least, and when strange older men looked at his skirt with
unfeigned interest, the nausea in his mouth only grew stronger. He couldn't prove to them that he was a boy, he couldn't even defend himself and get a legal job. He was nobody.
Peter really wanted to sleep, because children his age shouldn't stay awake for more than two days, but he couldn't relax, he didn't feel safe.
Peter wanted to take off his skirt, but he didn't have any pants with him to wear instead. He wanted to cut off his hair, but he didn't even have a knife, let alone scissors. He wanted to go home, he wanted to be an adult again, to have his powers and to feel safe. But the universe would always be against Peter Parker because he had no choice, he could only... survive. His eyes were closing, and the trembling in his hands was getting stronger. With each passing minute, everything around him was getting blurrier, or maybe it was Peter himself who was drifting, but before he could react, his vision darkened. It was the end. He was no longer safe.
Damian didn't expect to find a girl slightly younger than himself lying unconscious on the asphalt. He was just walking with Dick to buy some gouache, and then he ran away from his brother, but people need saving even when he's not in his costume, so he immediately picked up the girl, who was too small for it to be normal, and ran towards Grayson, who seemed to still be waiting for him at the art store.
“Dami? Who's that? What happened?” His older brother's worried voice only made the boy shrug and hand the girl over to him, because even though she wasn't heavy, she was still not much shorter than him, and he was still just a normal person, albeit a trained one. Dick took the girl without question and, sighing, asked Damian to call Alfred to pick them up, to which he nodded and immediately called his grandfather. A few minutes later, an old black car with a distinct old money accent appeared in front of the brothers, and they got into the car.
"Alfred, thank you. We have a child about nine years old, no visible injuries, seems exhausted and fainted. The sooner she gets to the infirmary, the better," Dick said with concern in his voice but a serious expression on his face as he sat down and fastened his seatbelt and the girl's seatbelt, making sure Damian did the same.
Pennyworth did not respond, but as soon as they fastened their seat belts, he pressed the gas pedal. During the trip, Damian scratched his right hand with obvious concern, but when he realized what he was doing, he shuddered and looked at it. In addition to redness from intense scratching, a tattoo had formed on his arm in the shape of a red and black spider. The spider looked like a Latrodectus, or as it is commonly known, a “black widow,” but something was wrong. Damian had never seen such a strange black widow, and why did he have this tattoo in the first place?
“Damien? Are you okay?” Grayson's voice brought him out of his thoughts, and with a brief nod, he turned his attention back to the girl. Only now did he notice that she also had a tattoo on her neck, although he was sure it hadn't been there before. He looked at the drawing with confusion. It wasn't a spider, it was a katana next to a first aid kit. He didn't like what was happening at all and hoped she wasn't a magician or something like that, because he didn't need any trouble for finding her and bringing her straight to his family.
Dick pressed his lips together in concern. An unknown girl from the street and Damian, who was too deep in thought, did not bode well. Perhaps this was to be expected, as the day had been quiet, not to mention that the previous day with the patrol had also been quiet, so it was not surprising that something had happened. But how dangerous was it? It seemed he had no choice but to wait and see.
None of the brothers even noticed right away when the car stopped, but as soon as the door opened, they monotonously got out of the car. Dick, fortunately, had the sense to ask Alfred to prepare a room for her, but Damian, still lost in his thoughts, automatically headed for the infirmary, leaving his older brother no choice but to follow him to provide medical assistance to the girl. Only when he saw Tim with his arm bandaged did Damian finally snap out of autopilot and remember that he was already in the Batcave, that Dick and Tim were also nearby, and that they needed to start acting instead of wallowing in their doubts.
Tim looked at the girl and his brothers with confusion. Dick nodded at him with a tired smile, and Damian didn't even pay attention to him, as if the trip to get gouache for his younger brother hadn't gone as planned. However, this was nothing new; he would have been more surprised if it had ended well. The girl in her brother's arms was very thin and clearly not healthy, looking as if she had been on the streets for a long time, or, conversely, not long enough, as she had only recently arrived there and was not yet accustomed to it. Tim grimaced at the thought of what might have been done to her, because in Gotham, it's always the weakest who suffer, and unfortunately, even Batman can't save everyone.
Dick gently laid the girl on the hospital bed and immediately dropped his hands. They were all guys, and none of them wanted the little girl to wake up thinking she had been taken advantage of while she was vulnerable, but they needed to examine the stranger for signs of injury. They could have asked Alfred for help, but Dick had sent him to prepare a room, perhaps a little too hastily. Before they could discuss it, their sister Cassandra appeared in the infirmary. She didn't ask any questions, just motioned for them to leave the room, and to be honest, the three brothers felt a huge sense of relief and immediately left so their sister could examine the girl for signs of injury that weren't immediately apparent.
Tim took a breath and immediately exhaled, trying to concentrate, but immediately looked at Damian with a questioning look.
“Who is it?”
“I don't know, I found her on the asphalt when I was running away from Grayson to the zoo.” Dick softened for a second at his younger brother's answer, but Tim only frowned harder. None of them had any idea who she was, and Bruce was due home soon. It looked like they were about to have a new family member, but how could they be sure she wasn't dangerous? What if she had been sent to trick them? Damian took her, but we don't even know her name.
Tim's inner doubts were interrupted as soon as Dick's hand appeared on his shoulder and patted him reassuringly. Drake smiled slightly, but couldn't escape the noise of his thoughts. After a few minutes of silence, Cassandra came out of the infirmary, and all eyes immediately turned to her. She just nodded and held up two fingers. Everyone felt a weight lift off their shoulders. The girl could wake up in two hours, maybe even sooner.
Cass stood next to her brothers for a few seconds, but when she focused on Damien, she noticed a tattoo on his right arm, which was strange because it hadn't been there before he left home with Dick. He couldn't have gotten it so quickly, and to be honest, Cass was sure that Damian didn't want a tattoo, especially on his arm. The girl frowned and immediately approached her younger brother. She took his hand without resistance and began to examine the spider.
As soon as she did this, Dick and Tim approached in obvious shock and joined her, not knowing what to say about their twelve-year-old brother's tattoo.
“What the hell is this...,” Tim muttered, earning a disapproving look from Dick. Damian and Cassandra silently agreed with Tim's statement.
“I don't know, Drake, it appeared when we were in the car on the way here.”
“Doesn't that girl have a tattoo on her neck too?” Dick suddenly said. It seemed that Damian wasn't the only one who had noticed it, but it would have been strange if no one else had. Cassandra, who was examining her for wounds, nodded. She had also noticed the tattoo, but didn't think much of it, since in Gotham, even five-year-olds get tattoos, let alone nine-year-olds. Tim raised an eyebrow in silent question. He couldn't even see her face clearly, let alone the tattoo.
“Yes, but she doesn't have a spider, she has a katana and a first aid kit,” Damian said clearly, still not understanding how it was connected.
Cass and Tim exchanged glances and silently discussed the tattoos until Tim finally continued the conversation aloud with his brothers:
“Cass and I think the girl's tattoo symbolizes you, Damian. It makes sense, especially considering the katana, and you recently said you were thinking of becoming a doctor, so the first aid kit, right?” Damian and Dick looked quite confused, but neither of them had time to respond because he appeared. Bruce was in the cave, apparently finished with his work for the day.
“Father, you're back.”
“Damian,” Bruce smiled slightly, but immediately noticed his children's mood.
“B, reporting. Damian found a girl around nine years old who needed medical attention, and now she's in our infirmary and should wake up soon. I also think she and Damian are soulmates.”
Damian and Dick looked at Tim doubtfully, but didn't argue. It's impossible to argue with Tim; he always wins. It's easier to argue with a bat cow than with him. Besides, Cass seemed to think so too, and if she thought so, then it must be true. Bruce blinked in surprise, but just nodded and clarified:
“Don't soulmates only appear after coming of age?” Drake nodded and continued:
"That's true, but there can be exceptions. This usually happens if the soulmates are platonic, when their relationship is more like family than lovers.
Damian listened with interest and seemed to be beginning to understand where this was going. He had a younger sister. Not by blood, but given to him by fate... a soulmate. How interesting. Would she accept him, even knowing that he was a murderer? Would she be afraid of him? He chuckled to himself when he realized that their family had a new addition, quite... unexpectedly. He was sure that Duke would be the last, but it seemed he had overestimated fate.
“Are you saying we have a sister now?” Dick asked, still glancing nervously at the infirmary. Tim chuckled but nodded slightly, smiling:
“I'd call her Damian's sister rather than ours, but I think we can be her family too.”
Bruce said nothing, but walked toward the infirmary to see his new child. The girl lay unconscious, with chestnut brown hair and a tattoo on her neck. He had no doubt that Tim was right, so he just nodded to himself. She was very thin, very small. To be honest, Bruce didn't understand why they thought she was nine; in his opinion, the girl was too small even for seven, but perhaps it was because she had been living on the streets.
Cassandra was happy that her younger brother had a soulmate, their new sister. The new child, driven into a corner by life, would find her family in them, and no matter how many times she saw others get used to their family, she could never say that she was tired of it.
The whole family's thoughts were interrupted by a sound from the bed; the girl was waking up.
Cass looked at her in confusion; she was sure that she wouldn't wake up for at least another hour, but it seemed that her body wasn't completely destroyed; it could still help the girl survive. Dick, Tim, and Damian stood on the left side of the bed, while Bruce and Cassandra stood on the right, watching the girl with interest. At first, her eyes blinked wearily, but then she suddenly opened them wide and sat up, staring at them in horror.
“We don't want to hurt you,” Dick immediately tried to reassure her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect, and she cowered in the bed as if they were threatening her life.
Bruce sighed and said,
“What's your name? Do you have parents or guardians?”
The girl swallowed, but seemed to calm down when she saw Damian. Perhaps the boy her age seemed safe to her, or she sensed him as a kindred spirit. To be honest, none of them fully understood how it worked.
“P-p-Peter,” he said, almost in a whisper, clearly ignoring the last two questions about his parents. At first, everyone was silent, feeling guilty about the boy's misgendering, but then Damian frowned slightly and said:
“Why are you wearing girls' clothes, Peter? Did someone hurt you?” He voiced the thoughts of everyone in the room. If a little boy was wearing girls' clothes and had long hair on the street, it meant something bad had happened. The boy bit his lip and shook his head:
“No, I... I was a girl, but I didn't want to be one. Clothes... I don't have any others.” Tim smiled slightly and nodded understandingly:
"We understand, Peter. It's okay, we'll give you some comfortable clothes, you can even choose the ones you like best. However, I recommend Superman. By the way, my name is Tim, and I think I'm your older brother now.”
Peter tilted his head questioningly, but seemed to relax when he didn't encounter any transphobia directed at him. Children usually face this much more often than adults.
Damian frowned at Drake introducing himself before him and immediately looked at his younger brother:
“I'm Damian Wayne, and you and I are platonic soulmates. Now we're brothers... if that's okay with you.” Peter looked very surprised, but nodded and turned to Grayson, seemingly hoping to find out who he was.
“Oh... I'm Dick, your older brother. I'm glad to finally know your name, Peter!” Seeing the shock on his new younger brother's face, Grayson immediately decided to clarify the misunderstanding. “Dick is short for Richard.” Peter still looked skeptical, but smiled anyway as a sign of acquaintance. A polite boy, which is surprising in their family.
“My name is Bruce, but you can call me B if you want. If you don't mind, I'll be your adoptive father,” B said when the brown eyes turned in his direction.
Cass remained silent for a moment under the boy's gaze, but then tried to use gestures, hoping that Peter would understand them:
“Cassandra, Cass to you. Older sister.”
Peter smiled slightly and relaxed when she used gestures. It seemed he understood them after all.
“Can you... can you hear me?” Pete asked, repeating the question with gestures in case the girl couldn't hear him. Cass nodded and asked with gestures how he knew sign language so well.
“Oh... I had a friend who was hard of hearing,” the boy muttered. In fact, Peter had learned sign language because children in New York often used it to talk about their problems at home, and Spider-Man obviously helped them if he found out something bad. But he couldn't tell them that; they wouldn't understand how a ten-year-old boy could have four years of experience as a vigilante.
Cassandra clenched her fist for a second, but then immediately relaxed it. The boy was lying, and he was doing it deliberately, knowing exactly why he needed to lie. For a second, too many thoughts flooded the girl's mind: from whether he lied because of bad or good motives to how dangerous he was and whether someone was trying to use the little boy, who was close to one of the members of the Batfamily, to infiltrate them and destroy them from within. She didn't know, but one thing was clear: in any case, he would be a victim; no nine-year-old boy would do this voluntarily. Most likely, he was being manipulated, although if he lied with good intentions, then most likely the lie was insignificant and he was learning sign language for someone more important than they thought. Of course, Cass didn't tell anyone about this, but she guessed that Tim had noticed her emotional reaction and had come to the same conclusions himself. Fortunately for Peter, neither Tim nor Cass were jumping to conclusions, and they clearly had no intention of telling the others about their suspicions.
“Do you have a last name?” Tim suddenly asked. The question wasn't an interrogation, but it wasn't harmless either, something in between.
The boy looked at Drake strangely, and his gaze seemed to say, “Why shouldn't I have a last name?” But even considering this look, he didn't respond, he just... remained silent.
Damian frowned, but couldn't figure out whether it was Drake or Peter who was irritating him. They were both brothers, but he had only met Peter a short time ago and learned his name even later, so maybe he was annoyed that Peter was ignoring his older brother? Or was he annoyed with Tim because he was pressuring their younger brother with personal questions? Anyway, it didn't matter, because the situation annoyed him, and it seemed that both Tim and Peter had noticed.
“If you don't want to answer, that's fine...”
“Parker... Peter Parker.” Peter doubted that they would find anything on him, since this was another universe where he wasn't even supposed to exist. And if there was any information about him, it was most likely about his past self. He prayed that this strange family would be tolerant enough not to read about his trauma as a normal transgender boy. As he thought about this, he noticed that his vision was blurry. He had thought about this before, when he was sitting on the street, but his vision only improved after being bitten by a spider at the age of eleven, so now everything looked blurry, but he really tried to live with it, although now he couldn't even see the faces of his new “family,” as they said, so he had to constantly squint.
“Are you hard of sight?” asked Dick. It was a harmless question, and quite logical, considering how Peter was staring at them as if trying to figure out what they looked like.
“Yes, but I'm not sure how bad it is,” Parker muttered, and it was true; to be honest, he had forgotten that he wore glasses almost as soon as he got his powers and took them off.
Dick nodded and mentally noted another point about Peter for Leslie to check in the future. She was a real doctor, after all, and it would be better if she examined the boy for any complications.
“Do you have any other health problems? We'd like to know so we can be prepared,” Bruce said casually and immediately took out his phone to make a note of everything he needed to pass on to Leslie, Alfred, and the rest of the family. Peter paused for a moment, as if remembering everything the doctor had told him, and then nodded.
"Yes, asthma. I also have an intolerance to cold, an allergy to mint and perfume.”
In fact, he wasn't sure about the cold and allergies, because that combination appeared after the bite, but he had already mentioned it, so maybe it was normal? At least until he was bitten by a spider, he could just pretend if there were no symptoms.
“Okay, Peter, I'll tell Alfred to get rid of all the perfume and mint and throw them away,” Bruce said with a nod, forcing Peter to watch his actions in shock.
- Alfred? Who is that? And why throw it away? It's worth money. You could sell it.
“Alfred is our butler, but we think of him as our grandfather. As for your last question, we have quite a lot of money, so it won't be a problem if we just throw it away or give it to those in need,” Tim replied, watching Peter's reaction to his words with interest.
“Oh... I... I would prefer if you gave them to those in need... but only if you don't mind?”
Damian looked at his soulmate with incomprehension. Why was he so... unsure of himself? Was it because of his transgender identity that he thought it would embarrass them? Or did he just feel out of place with them? Peter was his new brother, and he would be lying if he said he wanted him to be so weak-willed. Maybe he could give Peter some self-defense lessons later? That would probably give him more confidence.
“Oh, little wing, don't worry, we don't mind giving it to those who need it, especially if you want us to,” Dick's voice easily pulled Dami out of his thoughts, and he refocused on reality. Parker looked at Richard like he was crazy, and no one blamed him; sometimes, he was.
“W-wing?”
“Oh... that's what I call my younger siblings. If it bothers you, I'll stop. I'm sorry,” Dick replied guiltily, biting his lip and once again berating himself for his carelessness in conversation.
“I'm not a bird. I'm a spider,” Peter replied immediately, looking so confident that he really was one. No one said anything about it, as they were all still thinking about Peter's statement. No matter how hard they tried to find a hidden meaning in it, nothing but the tattoo came to mind, but Pete couldn't have known about it; he didn't even know he had one on his neck, let alone Damian.
“How do you know that?” Damian couldn't hold back and asked directly, expecting a normal answer.
“Know what?”
Damian frowned but moved closer to Peter and held out his hand in front of him. A tattoo appeared before the boy's brown eyes. A red and black spider tattoo. If he had been on the verge of vomiting before, now he simply threw up, right on Damian's hand, who, with concern and obvious shock, immediately removed his hand from Peter's face.
“Why did he react like that?” the demon asked immediately, washing his hand from his brother's vomit in the sink inside the infirmary. He couldn't understand what could have provoked this. Was it really impossible for them to see each other's tattoos? But he had seen Peter's tattoo, and nothing had happened. Maybe it was the spider itself? Was it... a trigger?
“Trigger,” Cassandra quietly voiced his thoughts, looking anxiously at Dick and Tim, who were trying to calm Parker down. Bruce stood nearby, also wondering why the trigger had been activated. Could it be the spider itself? Had he been bitten by this species before? Or just any spider? That would probably make sense, but then why did he talk so easily about belonging to the spiders if he was afraid of them?
“Damian?”
“Father.”
“The spider on your arm, do you know what kind of spider it is?” Bruce asked with interest. If anyone should be asked, it was Damian; no one else here knew animals as well as he did.
"I wouldn't say so. It reminds me of a black widow, but... I don't think the spider in my tattoo exists, it looks completely different from its counterparts. Bruce nodded and turned to Peter, who had stopped panicking and was staring at Damian's hand with empty eyes. He looked so scared, but then suddenly said:
“Damian is right, this spider doesn't exist... because it is a mixture of different spiders, an experiment by humans.” Peter didn't mention that this spider had bitten him, or that it didn't actually exist in this universe, or any other nonsense that could get him locked up in a mental hospital for life, if not two lifetimes.
Tim frowned when he heard Parker's answer. The boy wasn't telling them everything, but it would be too stupid to ask what exactly they weren't being told, and Peter wouldn't tell them anyway, since he was deliberately keeping quiet about it. Perhaps it had something to do with his reaction to that spider. It seemed that the trigger was only for this one species in the world, perhaps it was the one that had bitten their younger brother, but... why was it symbolic of Peter? It was rather strange that something he was afraid of could be associated with him. Tim wanted to go to the Batcomputer with a cup of coffee and start watching all the security camera footage of his new little brother at least fifty times, maybe even a hundred, but Dick decided to interrupt his best mental plans for the week:
“All right, little spider, welcome to the family!” Peter bit his lip but nodded, seemingly satisfied that the nickname “spider” was much better than “wing.”