Chapter Text
It’s been a week since Peter arrived in Gotham. Seven whole days and, somehow, he’s still alive.
Truly, a remarkable feat, given his track record.
Unfortunately, Karen isn’t satisfied with just keeping Peter alive and her casual remarks about finding a proper place to live and maybe considering leaving Gotham entirely have turned into constant nagging.
On the last day of June, Peter finally caves in and picks a random apartment from one of the many catalogues he got from the renting agency. It’s still in Crime Alley and it’s a one bedroom apartment on the sixth floor with no elevator and absolutely no furniture whatsoever but the rent is stupidly low and he finally has running water and working electricity.
Peter eyes the small living room and his brain is quick to picture how he’ll build his new workroom with whatever tools he can find in his local tech store. It won’t be anything like the lab Tony had built for him back home but Peter has done more with less.
“I’ve taken the liberty to order you some basic necessities, Peter. They should arrive tomorrow morning”, Karen’s voice pulls him out of his musing and Peter has to fight the instinct to turn around in disbelief.
“What?! What is that supposed to mean?!”, if Peter’s voice cracks just a little bit from the shock, well, there’s no one here to witness it besides Karen and she has heard (and seen) him doing way stupidier things before.
“I managed to place a call and order some things for the apartment, just in case you were too busy to do it yourself”, the AI explains, her voice far too pleasant and innocent. Peter can practically taste the accusation behind her words. “A fridge, a proper bed, a dinner table and a few basic hygiene items you’ve been forgetting to buy.”
“Karen…”, is the only thing Peter manages to say, too tired and frustrated to actually put his thoughts into words. He closes his eyes for a moment, his fingers rushing through his hair as he tries not to snap. “You can’t go around making decisions without me. Besides, I thought you wanted me to leave Gotham! What’s the point in buying… all that, if I’m supposed to leave the city altogether?!”
“We both know you’re not leaving Gotham, Peter”, Karen says softly, her voice far too calm and casual for Peter’s liking. Something about it makes his chest ache, his heart racing as his fingers clench around his unkempt curls. “I know you wish to go back to your Universe but without outside help, your chances of succeeding are less than 4%. I recommend you leaving the city so you can rebuild your life in a safer environment but I cannot force you to do so. Instead, I must follow my prime directive: keep you as safe as possible and ensure your wellbeing at all times.”
“Don’t say that!”
“Peter, you know it’s true.”
Peter’s fingers dig into his scalp as he paces back and forth, the dulled noises of the world outside growing louder as he struggles to breathe. He can feel his nails pressing against his own skin, his chest moving far too quickly as resists the urge to tell Karen to mute herself.
“I’m not… I’m not stuck here. I can’t be. Queens need me. My city needs me. My world needs me. There’s no one else left. The avengers are gone, Mr. Stark is gone, Dr. Strange only cares about the big stuff! I can’t stay here forever!”
“Peter-”
“No! I’m done talking about this. You want to help me, right? You can help me find a way back home… and stop making decisions by yourself”, his voice is quiet, barely a hiss as he forces his eyes shut once more. For a moment, the apartment is silent and Peter’s brain manages to ignore the chaotic sounds of the world outside. His hands fall to his side, trembling slightly as he clenches them into tight fists.
“As you wish, Peter.”
The boy takes another deep breath before removing the earpieces and shoving them into his front pocket.
He doesn’t reach for them until the next day.
Peter is woken up by two voices cursing loudly and someone knocking on his front door. The sun is high up in the sky and the air inside the small apartment is stale. He reaches for his webshooters before he can even open his eyes, silently crawling across the cold floor all the way to the front door.
Two men in dark jumpsuits, surrounded by large boxes are standing right outside his door, one of them rubbing his shoulder with a displeased expression on his face. The other guy knocks on his door again, making Peter jump slightly.
“We’re with Mike’s delivery services! Is Peter Parker home?”
“Ah, shoot”, is all Peter manages to say before he shoves the webshooters in his back pocket and opens the door with a bit more strength than necessary. The two men on the other side stare at him, unimpressed.
“Sorry, I’m Peter Parker. I was… busy”, Peter manages to say, his face turning slightly pink as the older man snorts, clearly eyeing his sleepy expression and the red marks on his face from where it pressed against the floor. Peter steps back from the door, making a vague gesture behind him. “Uh, you’re here with the fridge right?”
“You’re Peter Parker?”, the older man eyes him with a strange expression on his face before being brushed aside by the other man.
“Yeah, man, a fucking fridge, a bedframe, a mattress, a table and there’s a box of something from… Webb’s Market”, the younger man says, tapping each box with his boot. He reaches for the heavier box, ignoring the sigh from his colleague as they walk past Peter and into the small apartment. “Where’s the kitchen? Fridge’s heavy as shit and the boss conveniently forgot to tell us this building had no fucking elevator.”
“Don’t swear around the kid, you idiot”, the older man growls quietly before looking back at Peter with an amused expression. “Don’t worry about Danny, kid. Just tell us where to drop your things and we’ll be out of your hair in a second.”
Peter fights back a wince as he gestures towards the small kitchen only a few feet away from the front door. As soon as the two men disappear into the other room, Peter reaches for the other boxes, easily moving them to the living room and closing the front door before any of his neighbors notice the commotion.
“Fridge’s done, where do you want the- Kid, what the hell are you doing?”, the older man, Not-Danny, asks, his face both confused and amused as he watches Peter begin to peel away the wrapping around the bedframe. “Did you drag all that by yourself?”
“Uh, yeah… It’s… it’s not that heavy”, Peter mumbles, his eyes still half closed from sleep. Not-Danny mutters something under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Well, if you’ve got it handled then we’ll be going. Just need you to sign here”, the man hands Peter a pen and a heavy clipboard with several half crumbled papers before pointing towards a small box with Peter’s name, address and a small description of the items to be delivered. Peter quickly reads through the information before signing his name on the line and handing it back. Not-Danny takes one look at the paper before shoving it under his arm with a satisfied nod. “You want us to take the cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping with us or you can throw it out later?”
Peter hesitates for a second, not wanting to fill up the small apartment with trash but also not wanting to throw away materials that could be useful in the future. He must take one second too long to think because Danny rolls his eyes at him, already reaching for one of the empty boxes on the floor.
“Oh, no, thanks. I can put it away later”, is all he can manage. Danny sighs, dropping the empty box instantly and making his way to the front door in silence. Not-Danny thanks Peter and quickly follows his colleague, also not really waiting for Peter’s answer.
Peter keeps an ear out for the two men until he hears them drive away in their truck, discussing their next stop as they get further away from the apartment, their voices muffled under the city’s noise.
He turns back to the unassembled bedframe with a sigh before reaching for his earpieces, still stuffed away in his pocket. Peter hesitates for a moment before clicking the earpieces in place, the familiar hum of the suit flooding his ears and drowning out the overwhelming noise of the city around him.
“Morning Karen. Do you know when the hardware store opens? I need some tools to actually assemble this thing…”
Peter sits at the edge of the bed, staring at the stained walls until his eyes begin to unfocus. The city outside is still too loud for comfort, as the night begins and the criminals start to come out.
The last rays of sunlight come in through the half open window and Peter forces himself to get up from his spot. His body protests at the movement, his back clearly upset after seven days of sleeping on the cold floor and running on cheap granola bars and energy drinks. At least tonight he would be able to sleep in an actual bed.
“Karen, you’re there?”
“Always, Peter.”
The words make him fight back a smile and a sigh at the same time. He makes his way back to the living room, stepping over the leftover cardboard by the door. The sun has set completely on this side of the house, leaving the small room bathed in darkness. Outside, the street lamps are starting to turn on and Peter notices for the first time that most of the buildings have bars or locks on the windows. He silently wonders if he should get himself some as well.
“The other day… you said we should hack into Batman’s files so we can build contingency plans for the local villains.”
“I said if we find a way of accessing Batman’s database, we could make contingency plans but only with proper planning and only after we fixed your suit and you were properly healed from your injuries”, Karen corrects him, clearly not amused.
“That’s basically the same thing, Karen”, Peter whines, his fingers running over the webshooter’s webfluid casing. The metal is slightly scratched but there’s no way Peter can find the proper materials to replace it just yet. Karen makes a small, static-like noise, frustration clear in her tone. “I’m fine and we haven’t heard from the bats in days. I have the space to fix my suit and we can start building a proper computer so I don’t have to keep sneaking around the library all the time.”
“You’re still not healed and there has been an increase in Batman’s appearances all over Gotham since your arrival. Robin hasn’t been seen since which could indicate Batman is taking precautions against potential attacks and will be on the lookout. Perhaps we should wait for a few more days before-”
“Karen, I’m talking about field research not actually going out there and… I don’t know, fighting the Joker or the Penguin or whoever is trying to take over the city this week!” Peter runs his hand through his hair once again, wincing slightly as his fingers get stuck in his tangled curls. “Just… I feel like I’m going insane, sitting here not doing anything. We can fix the suit and build the computer first… That will buy us time. By the time we’re done, Batman will probably have forgotten about Spiderman already.”
“I think you’re being too optimistic, Peter… but I agree fixing your suit and getting yourself a proper work station are appropriate priorities, given your insistence in staying in Gotham for the foreseeable future.”
“So… We’re going back to the tech store tomorrow?”, he asks, a hint of hope and amusement in his voice.
“It seems so.”
If Peter jumps high enough to hit the ceiling with his head, loud, almost maniac cackles escaping his lips as he dances around the small room at Karen’s words… well, there’s no one there to judge him anyway.