Peter snapped his fingers at Aunt May as she was ignoring her breakfast and staring at her phone with a smile on her face.

“Hey, May,” Peter said. “I told you I have something important to tell you.”

Aunt May was wearing the red and white uniform of the diner she worked at. She wasn’t all that young and the diner didn’t pay her all that well but they needed all the money they could get, the rent wasn’t going to pay itself.

“Yes, Peter,” May said, still smiling at her phone. “What’s up?”

Peter sighed, his stomach twisting. He definitely didn’t want to know why Aunt May always looking at her phone with such a big grin on her face but he would have preferred to know that instead of telling her what he was about to now.

“I… remember when I told you about the Wayne Internship,” Peter said.

“Yeah,” Aunt May said, immediately putting her phone down and looking directly at him. “And like I said, Bruce Wayne is not a good influence and I don’t want you anywhere near him.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, buttering his toast. “About that…”

“Peter,” Aunt May said firmly.

“Look,” Peter started.

“Peter,” Aunt May said her voice even more firm.

“I got fired from my jobs,” Peter snapped.

“Peter…” May said, her voice softer now.

“Now I know you don’t want me doing work at all,” Peter said. “But that won’t change the fact that we have bills to pay and no way to pay them.”

Peter sighed. “You’re working enough as it is,” Peter said. “And I can see the bags under your eyes. You shouldn’t be working this much…”

“And you shouldn’t be working either,” Aunt May said. “You’re just a kid Peter. You should be studying and hanging out with your friends in the afternoon not worrying about bills. It was hard enough giving you permission to work to work and now this.”

Peter stretched out and held her hand. “I’m fine May. Look. I know this city’s dangerous but…” Peter sighed. “We have to make ends meet. Please trust me on this.”

“You sound just like your Uncle, you know that?” May said with a gentle smile.  She gently pulled away from Peter’s hand and sighed. “You know I trust you Peter, but that Wayne boy he always finds himself in dangerous situations and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I know,” Peter said. “That’s why I won’t be working under him. I’ll be working under a scientist called Curt Connors. I did some research and he used to work with dad. I think I’ll be fine.”

“I know,” Aunt May said. “But have you seen the news lately? Wayne buildings have been targeted. What if something happens to you?”

“That’s why I’ll be working in the main building,” Peter said. “The one in the middle of Gotham. That place is like a fortress.”

Aunt May was silent. “Yeah but… you know me I can’t help but be worried.”

“Yeah I know,” Peter said. “But I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.” Peter smiled at her.  “Besides, it pays really well.”

Aunt May chuckled. “You should’ve started with that.”

…

As was usual during the late hours of the morning, Master Bruce was sitting in front of the Batcomputer. Alfred placed his breakfast platter on the side as medical files popped up on the giant screen.

“What warrants the need for you to infringe people’s privacy today?” Alfred asked.

“The man I dealt with last night at the factory had one eye,” Bruce said. “A feature not shared by many people in Gotham.”

“I see,” Alfred said. “So, you’re scouring through medical records to ease your search?”

“I already found him,” Bruce said.

“Oh.”

“Gil Bradfield,” Bruce said. “For a member of a terrorist organisation he’s doing an awful job of hiding himself.”

“Says here he lost his eye in a chemical incident,” Alfred said. “He barely had enough money to sue and could only afford check-ups. He used to live in an apartment on the safer side of the city and now…”

“He lives in an apartment right next to the narrows,” Bruce said. “I know where I’m going tonight.”

“Wait Master Bruce,” Alfred said. “There’s something you might want to see.”

“What’s that?”

“It says here that the hospital Mr. Bradfield visited was the Thomas and Martha Wayne memorial hospital,” Alfred said.

Bruce was still. “That doesn’t make sense. The hospital was built for the sole purpose of providing affordable healthcare to the citizens of Gotham, there’s no way he couldn’t afford the bill.”

“Something’s not adding up,” Alfred said.

Bruce squinted. “And I intend to find out what.”