The waterfall to the Batcave split apart reveal an entrance to a driveway. The Batmobile drove through the entrance, water splashing atop its black surface as it parked in the centre of the Batcave. Alfred was waiting for him. Bruce got out of the Batmobile.

“Tea, sir?” Alfred offered holding a saucer with a teacup on top.

“I went to the warehouse but by the time I got there, there was already a ‘cleaning’ crew,” Bruce said, removing his cowl.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“I did some digging around and apparently a few of the security guards at the warehouse all ran into this ‘Catwoman’,” Bruce said. “They said Catwoman took them all out before burning all the money in the warehouse. She never took anything besides the account books which is odd for a cat burglar.”

“Maybe she’s looking for something specific,” Alfred suggested.

“That’s what I thought, too,” Bruce said. “Most of the books that are missing are from around 26-28 years ago, we can assume she was born around that time but what exactly is she looking for?”

“What is Mr. Dent looking for? Or Cobblepot?” Alfred said. “You never know with these types, Master Bruce.”

“That’s true,” Batman said. “But there’s something different about her. She’s resigned herself from being the Cat Thief she was in her early days and is now targeting the Falconies specifically. It’s an interesting turn of events,” Bruce said. “The Falconies upped their security in their other warehouses and I’m pretty sure that’s what she wanted. She’s trying to get to the big man himself.”

“Isn’t that what you want, sir?”

“For a different reason,” Bruce said. “Falcone activity fizzled out 5 years ago after the Long Halloween and suddenly they’re making a comeback. What’s more, new crime bosses are popping up all over Gotham, most of them from New York. There’s a new crime wave spreading and threatening to destroy this city. The only way I can find out what’s happening is through Carmine and I don’t have any leads.”

There was a silence before Alfred popped in with a suggestion.

“Both you and this Catwoman character seem to be looking for the same thing,” Alfred said. “How about you both work together?”

“No.”

“Master Bruce…”

“She’s a criminal, Alfred,” Bruce said. “I can’t trust her.”

“And I’m not telling you to trust her,” Alfred said. “But you both want Mr. Falcone, do you not? You both seek answers from him and the only way for you to get those answers is if you both work for them. Besides, you can’t find these answers alone.”

A pause.

“Think about it, Master Bruce,” Alfred said. “Besides it’s about time you started talking to a woman again. You’ve been cooped up in this house with me and Master Todd for a while now and I don’t imagine that’s good for your mental wellbeing.”

…

Peter Parker was tired, very tired. But he figured three part time jobs, a great responsibility and 3 hours of sleep did that to a person and that wasn’t mentioning the Batman sized elephant in the room that was his training with Bruce Wayne.

And speaking of said elephant in the room, he felt his phone buzz and an unknown number dialling while he was waiting in line at the cafeteria.

Peter sighed; he was so close to the front of the line. He left his spot in the line and found a quiet corner in the cafeteria.

“Hello,” Peter said.

“The Golden Egg is going to be in the Gotham Museum tonight before being displayed tomorrow,” Bruce said. “A cat burglary ring I’ve had my sights on for a while has that as their next target. I want you and Jason to head over there and make sure the egg doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“I’m fine, thank you,” Peter mumbled.

“Get serious,” Bruce said.

“Did you mention Jason?” Peter asked. “I’m going to be working with him? The annoying kid?”

“Yes,” Bruce said. “I’ll be busy with my own mission tonight and if I take him, he’ll get in the way.”

“Basically, you want me to babysit him?”

“No,” Bruce said. “I want you to teach him discipline.”

“You know I don’t know the first thing about teaching anyone,” Peter said.

“Jason rushes into situations,” Bruce said. “He’s reckless and I want you to…”

“Babysit him.”

“No,” Bruce said, irritation in his voice. “I want you to…”

“Babysit him.”

Bruce sighed. “The egg will be transported to Gotham Museum tonight and will be on display tomorrow. I’ll inform security of your arrival. Be at the museum by 10 PM.”

“That’s past curfew,” Peter said. “Aunt May will kill me.”

“That’s not my problem,” Bruce said. “Goodbye.”

Bruce hung up. Peter sighed. Another night spent being out late and not getting enough sleep. What made it worse was the fact that he’d be spending the night with Jason Todd. The most annoying kid on the planet. The rest of his day would be spent in class with Mr. Singh who did not like it when Peter slept in class and the rest of his afternoon would be spent delivering pizzas. The only bright spot in his day was Barbara. Peter’s heart fluttered at the thought of her. She’d been recovering at a steady pace. She wasn’t able to walk yet but physically she’s been doing fine. Her physical aptitudes were off the charts and the doctor said there was no doubt she’d be heading back home soon.

That was why Peter, saving up as much money as he could to buy her a necklace she wanted. A gold one with a leaflike design in the centre. He bought it early this morning and placed it in his locker, hoping to keep it safe.

The rest of the day passed by in the blur. To nobody’s surprise, Mr. Singh slapped his desk with a notebook causing the class to chuckle and Peter miss some much-needed beauty sleep. After school, he figured he’d pay a much-needed visit to Barbara and give her the gift.

He was surprised to see the new student Felicity standing in front of his locker. She looked confused and kind of lost. She recognised Peter and walked over to him.

“You’re Peter Parker, right?” Felicity asked. “The guy who always sleeps in class?”

“That’s not all there is to me, you know?” Peter said with a chuckle. “What are you doing in front of my locker?”

Felicity was pretty gorgeous. With platinum blonde hair, green eyes and delicate features, standing in front of a girl like her made Peter feel nervous. Peter figured that’s why his spider sense was buzzing faintly.

“You’re pretty direct, aren’t you?” Felicia said.

“Oh, sorry I…”

“It’s cool,” Felicity said. “You look like you need 4 cups of coffee to function.”

Peter chuckled. “Tell me about it.”

“As for the locker thing,” Felicity said. “I’m new here and all the numbers on the lockers are confusing. I didn’t know where I was until you came here.”

“Oh uh… just tell me your locker number and I’ll show you where it is,” Peter said.

Felicity told him her locker number and Peter guided her to the locker. He opened his locker and buried underneath his mess of textbooks was a black box with the necklace underneath. Peter thought it felt lighter than usual but that was probably because he was being paranoid about it. He had no time to waste though, his job was just in a few hours and his boss was a pain in the ass about him being on time.

Peter found an empty alleyway outside school and climbed up the walls. Bag on his back he swung across Gotham, navigating through the buildings until he found himself at the Thomas and Martha Wayne Hospital. He landed on the rooftop, taking out the black box before webbing his bag on the wall. He removed his spider-suit and webbed it on the wall too. He was about to walk out into the hospital before realising he wasn’t wearing pants. He quickly put on his pants and made his way through the pristine hallways into Barbara’s room.

Her room was littered with multicoloured dumbbells and weights. She was on her wheelchair back turned to Peter, moving a 20 KG weight side to side. She had headphones on her head. Peter could hear the music playing through it. Peter walked over to her, trying his best not to trip over the weights laying around and tapped her on the shoulder.

Barbara turned, face drenched with sweat and flashed him a smile.

“Hey handsome,” she said, taking out her headphones and kissing him on the cheek. Her clothes had sweat stains on them.

“Let me change and we’ll talk in a bit.”

After changing into more comfortable clothes Barbara rolled out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her neck.

“We haven’t talked in a while,” Barbara said. “I missed you.”

Peter smiled. “I missed you too.”

Peter moved the weights out of the way as Barbara moved her wheelchair through the room.

“How’ve you been?” she asked. “How’s school?”

“School’s fine,” Peter said. “We have this new girl in class, Felicity Hardly I think’s her name. Dick would’ve liked her, she’s hot.”

Barbara stared at him, hands on her sides.

“Not as hot as you,” Peter said quickly. “You’re way hotter than she is. Like way hotter.”

“Good,” Barbara said, giggling. “You’re so cute when you get flustered.”

Peter chuckled weakly.

“How’s everything with you?” Peter asked. “How’s the recovery going?”

“It’s going good,” Barbara said. “The doctors here are amazing and the physiotherapy is on a whole other level.”

“I can see you’re out here exercising,” Peter said.

“Oh yes,” Barbara said. “Just my upper body though. Can’t wait to get those legs of mine moving. You should exercise too, it’s good for you.”

“Barbara I can lift a truck,” Peter said. “Weights like these are like lifting a fly. I mean look at this.”

Peter picked up one of the 20 KG plates lying around and held it in the air with one hand. “I don’t even feel anything.”

“Show off,” Barbara said with a grin.

Peter placed the weight down. “I don’t have much time. I have a job.”

“You just got here,” Barbara said.

“I know, I know,” Peter said. “But the rent won’t pay itself. But before I leave I… uh… I got you something.”

Peter shuffled around his pockets. Barbara gasped. “Are you proposing?”

Peter was taken aback. “No, no! I’m not! Unless you want to but… like… the time and…”

Peter noticed her grin and shook his head. “Never mind.” Peter took out a black box. “I got a necklace for you over at Martin’s. Now I don’t know what you like but I thought it’d look nice on you and…”

“I want you to have it.”

Barbara had a big smile on her face. “That’s so sweet. Thank you.”

Peter placed the box in her hand. Barbara looked giddy as she took it out of his hands. Peter stared at her expectingly as she opened the box. Heartbeat rising and rising, thoughts racing through his mind. What if she didn’t like it? What if she threw it away? I spent five weeks of paycheques on that, dear lord please let it be worth it.

Barbara opened it and Peter’s heart sunk into his chest when he saw the sour expression on her face.

“Peter, it’s empty.”