Spider in Gotham - Chapter 7

Her safehouse apartment building was small but felt like it had been well used. The style was a few years out of date, which made him think that this had been her actual place at one time. There wasn't a fire escape. Instead, it had to a greenhouse that stretched the width of the alley. The building opposite the apartment appeared to be some sort of office. A quick look told him it was a free clinic. The greenhouse was an open to the public as well.

"I've got people who check to make sure nothing unseemly gets planted inside." Catwoman said once she saw where he was looking. "They are dragging their feet legalizing a certain plant, so I can't have it around just yet."

"You'll break into a criminal hideout and plant a community garden." Peter asked. "Steal from the rich and give to the poor?"

"With a healthy cut for myself." Catwoman said with a laugh. "Nothing so selfless. Take care of the people and they will take care of you. They know how the city feels, so I know how the city feels."

"Got it." Peter nodded.

"Come on, kid." Catwoman bounced off the wall and up to the top of the greenhouse.

Peter followed suit with a bit of a run-up. He didn't want it to look too easy. Catwoman didn't wait for him. She scaled the side of the building; he guessed it had something to do with her gloves and possibly her boots. The closest window was three stories higher than the top of the greenhouse. He couldn't explain being able to follow her without showing his powers. She seemed nice, and apparently had decided to take him as a protégé, but he wasn't going to be so trusting anymore.

He took a closer look at the wall. There was a track of claw marks in the brick that showed she did this kind of entry a lot. Peter attempted to put his fingers in the divots, but there wasn't enough for a grip. There was too much distance between the other buildings to be able to logically bounce from one side to the other.

Peter looked up to see Catwoman sitting on the window watching him. She didn't move to help. It seemed this was a test. He widened his search and his gaze settled on the nearby streetlight. It faced the front of the building rather than the side, but it was better than nothing. He had seen enough parkour videos to get an idea.

He hopped back to the ground. Knowing that he was being watched, he took a running start. He made it up the streetlight three big steps before he latched on with his hands. Leaning back, keeping his feet on the pole, he pushed, keeping himself from slipping. Slowly, he climbed until he reached the bend in the light. A quick scramble swapped his grip from the vertical part to the horizontal bit. He pulled himself up, hooked his legs on the bar, and then sat there to take a breath.

Carefully, he got his feet on the bar, and crouched with his hands still holding it for balance. The front of the building had a window on the second and third floor. The fourth, where Catwoman waited, was blank. Still, it was a better option than suddenly climbing without any form of assistance.

Peter pushed off, leaping from the streetlight to the window on the third floor. His hands grabbed the ledge, holding on via his fingertips.

"American Ninja, eat your heart out." Peter grunted as he pulled himself up.

The ledge wasn't wide enough for him to stand straight on it. His feet could fit if he turned them to the side. He did so, as he stood, pressing himself against the window. There wasn't a path higher, which meant the only thing to do was to stop trying to go up. Now it was time to go forward.

Peter slid his fingers along the bottom edge of the window. It was locked. A small smile crossed his face as he looked at it. He knew this kind of window; it was the same kind that he had in his bedroom. They also opened at the top.

He found the ridge at the top of the window and shimmied it open. Gripping the side of the interior wall, he braced himself and climbed through. He found himself in a hallway rather than an apartment. Peter closed the window and quietly headed for the stairs.

There was only one apartment on the next floor. The door looked solid, as well as the frame, and it even had a video doorbell.

Peter knocked. Catwoman opened it a moment later. She had taken off her goggles.

"Nice job." She said stepping aside to let him in. "Where did you learn to climb like that."

"I've had to climb a telephone pole to get my shoes back a time or two." Peter answered.

It was only a half truth. He hadn't tried to climb it, but that was before he had powers. They couldn't afford a new pair in the aftermath of the invasion, so he had to wear May's old work shoes with torn cloth in the toes.

"Hm." Catwoman said. "I didn't think things like that happened in Metropolis."

"Every city has slums." Peter replied.

The interior of the apartment was much nicer than the building would have let on. It had an open floorplan with wood floors, leather furniture, and granite counters. There were only two doors, which he assumed were to the bathroom and the bedroom.

"Take off the mask, kid." She said strolling over to one of the doors. "I'll look for something for you to wear."

Peter felt silly now that she mentioned it. He wasn't going to be recognized. The only reason he had it on for tonight was so that his face wasn't captured on camera. There was a chance the thugs from the construction site would be there too, but they didn't even have his name.

He took off the mask and tucked it in the hoody pocket. After a moment he added the gloves as well. He didn't see a coat hanger, so he kept the sweater on.

Catwoman returned a couple of minutes later. She was dressed in a pair of black sweats that were just shy of being skintight. Her top was a shimmery purple that had one shoulder exposed.

"I knew you were a cutie." She smiled at him as she came to a stop. "Selina Kyle, and you are?"

"Peter Parker." He replied. "It's nice to meet you."

"Polite too." Salina chuckled. "These are the only clothes I had that were close to your size."

Peter took the folded stack of clothes. He looked around the apartment for somewhere to change. Turning back to Selina, he saw her smiling.

"The bathroom is over there." She pointed to the other door.

"Thanks." Peter hurried over and slipped inside.

He thought about locking the door, but that felt silly. This was her apartment. Not to mention she was a professional thief. A simple bathroom door wouldn't stop her if she wanted in. Considering how she was talking to Batman; it didn't seem like she would be interested anyway.

The bathroom was nearly as big as his bedroom back home. There was a tube that looked more like a jacuzzi and ceiling mounted shower head.

Peter winced as he undressed. His clothes smelled like sweat and grime. He had forgotten that part of using a homemade costume. They had to be washed constantly or he smelled like a locker room.

"Could I take a shower?" Peter asked, popping his head out.

"Sure, kid." Selina replied. "There should be towels."

"Thank you." Peter closed the door and stripped the rest of the costume off.

He didn't see anywhere to put it. Leaving the costume on the floor felt disrespectful. He folded it and put it on the edge of the sink as far away as he could from the clean stack. The shower was just a luxurious as it looked. As were the towels. Unfortunately, he wasn't so lucky with the clothes.

Peter stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a pair of sweats that were only different from the ones Salina wore in color, the shirt was a promotional one for a pizza place. There weren't any socks in the stack, but there were a nice pair of pink and green sneakers. He decided that putting the dirty clothing back on didn't make sense, putting the shoes on without them.

Selina laughed when she saw him.

"I'm sorry." She said, sounding anything but. "The only clothes I had for a guy were way too big for you."

"I've worn worse." He shrugged. "What do you want me to do with my costume?"

"Throw it away." Selina answered quickly. "You're not going to wear that ever again."

Peter let out a low sigh. It made sense, but he had bought them with the money he had earned.

"None of that." She said in a surprisingly sharp tone. "Do you realize what you did for me tonight?"

"Provided quality conversation?" Peter asked.

"Saved me ruining a perfectly good plan." Selina said as she crossed her arms. "If I would have used that approach on that hideout only for the Bats to show up, it would have been a bust. Maybe, maybe, they would have been too busy handling whatever deal Penguin had going on. Most likely, I would have ended up empty handed with my resources wasted." She relaxed. "Now, I've got my own kid to focus my attention on."

"Your own kid?" Peter asked slowly.

"Bats has like five of them." She waved off the question. "I swear he can't pass an orphanage without grabbing a new one."

"Seriously?" Peter scrunched his brow in thought.

"Not literally." Selina laughed. "There's Robin, Red Hood, Red Robin, Batgirl, the other Batgirl, the old Batgirl, and Nightwing. The last two aren't kids so much anymore. They started as kids though. The original sidekicks."

"Wow." Peter blinked.

"Come on." Selina waved him to follow. "We've got a little drive ahead of us."

He followed her down to the bottom floor which turned out to be a garage rather than more apartments. She saw him looking around.

"I own the entire building." Selina explained. "This is the garage, the second floor is my planning room, and storage. Sometimes it takes a while to fence the goods. Or I want to keep them and they're too hot to take to my place."

Peter nodded. He didn't expect to become an apprentice thief, but here he was.

Her car, like everything else, was pure luxury. The doors opened with a beep-boop. Peter sank into the passenger seat, surprised to find it wasn't leather. The brick wall folded away as she started the car. They slid back in place once they cleared the line.

"Tell me, Peter." Selina said as she drove. "What were you going to do with the money?"

"I need papers." Peter replied with a shrug. "I can't get a real job, a place to live, or even go to school without them."

"You could have gotten enough money for that hitting an armored car." Selina said. "Less dangerous too."

"It wouldn't be for the guards." Peter shook his head. "I don't like hurting people. Stealing from criminals doesn't hurt anyone who didn't sign up for it."

Selina nodded. They settled in silence for a moment.

"One suitcase would be a minimum of four-hundred and fifty thousand." She said easily. "Those are some expensive papers. You're a fit kid, you could carry a couple. That's close to a cool million."

She let the words hang in the air. Peter sighed. What did he have to lose?

"I needed the money to make a suit." Peter leaned his head against the window. "Something better than thrift store athletic wear."

"And what would you be doing once you had this million dollar suit?" Selina asked, there was a slight tease in her voice under the curiosity.

"Help people." Peter shrugged.

"Fight crime?" She asked. "Do I need to watch myself?"

"I'd help people." Peter rolled his eyes at her. "Muggings, assaults, robbery, emergencies, and that sort of thing. I would help where I could. You're not trying to blow up the neighborhood or knocking over mom-and-pop stores."

"I'm the good kind of bad guy?" Selina laughed.

"You're not a bad guy." Peter closed his eyes and enjoyed the cool glass against his forehead.

"We just met." She scoffed. "Who's to say I'm not planning on kidnapping you and turning you into some mindless drone? You could be one of the many that I've snatched off the street to build an army."

Peter gave her a flat stare without bothering to move his head from the glass.

"In Gotham, that's not unheard of." Selina teased.

"You're too smart for that." Peter replied.

"Oh?" Selina laughed. "I'm sure the guy turning people into a mindless army would beg to differ."

"And he would be wrong." Peter said. "There's no point. You are different. You've got a target, you do your research, and then execute. Genius in the simplicity. Tonight, you recognized the approach was wrong and were able to adjust. The guy making a brainwashed army is going to be too invested in their plan to even think something can go wrong."

"Not bad, kid." Selina said turning her attention back to the road. "Here's the deal. I know some people who can get you papers and a suit. You stick around with me for a while to pay back the favor. After a bit, we split on good terms. I don't like to hurt people. Getting in and out without anyone seeing me is a sign of a job well done."

"What do you get out of it?" Peter asked.

"Call it my good deed." Selina shrugged. "You want to help the little guy. I'm fine with that. The little guy has nothing to worry about from me. You clean up the streets and make the people feel safe between madmen planting bombs and setting things on fire."

"I'll get the papers and the suit after, I'm guessing." Peter said.

"You guess correctly." Selina replied. "We're almost there. We'll have some food, get some sleep, and then go shopping in the morning. You can't keep wearing my clothes even if those pants make your butt good enough to bite."