This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife.

[wristspinnerets]

Peter watches as their youngest alternate pulls away from their group hug and hurries over to his friends. Despite the pain of his physical wounds, Peter(-Two) feels pretty good about the outcome of this particular strange adventure. Peter-Three's arm is solid and strong around him, helping him stay upright until he can do it under his own power. Some distance away, Norman Osborn is seated on the ground -- okay, actually, the strange round shield that had once been attached to the Statue of Liberty in this world -- head bowed, refusing to look up.

Peter-Two isn't sure what he'd say if Norman tried to speak to him. So it's something of a relief that the old man doesn't.

"All right?" Peter-Three says softly. Peter-Two takes a cautious step away from his alternate's grasp, and smiles when his balance remains steady.

"We will be," he replies.

(Peter-Three's big brown eyes go wider, reflecting confusion for a moment, before he gets it.) He huffs out a laugh. "Yeah... I think we will be."

"Do you think you could..?" Peter-Two gestures toward his back.

Peter-Three realizes what he needs and says, "Oh, yeah, sure..."

"Just to help slow the bleeding some more."

"Yup." Peter-Three raises an arm, aims his mechanical web-shooter, and fires a wad of webbing at Peter-Two's wounded back. It puts pressure on the stab wound and while it doesn't help with the pain, it's some sort of relief.

"Thank you."

"Of course. And... thank you."

Peter-Two smiles, bright and genuine, at Peter-Three. "Of course."

That weird white glow from a few days ago returns, suffusing Peter's body. His alternate is glowing as well, and flashes him a peace sign. Peter raises a hand to wave good-bye... and then their surroundings vanish in a cascading rainbow of light, and something is pulling him away from the world.

There's a flash of some unfamiliar scene, all in shades of red, and a sharp sudden tug from behind his ribcage --

Peter takes a step forward, and there's a shriek and a buzz in the back of his head -- he reels backward and falls on his ass, finding himself at the edge of some unfamiliar building.

This isn't Liberty Island. This isn't his apartment building, where he'd originally been before being pulled into Peter-One's world. Peter goes for his mask, but will he be able to pull it on before he's noticed by someone else on the rooftop?

Comments

[red_hood_rat]

Jason's pretty used to rooftop hopping, and to running into other costumed rooftop hoppers. Ones that appear out of thin air, though? That's a little less common.

Jason has never seen this guy before, and has no idea if he's a vigilante, a dress-up, or what. But he will do him the favor of letting him pull his mask on before he gets too close. That's just a courtesy.

"You're new," he remarks idly as he approaches, keeping a wary eye on the newcomer. "Spiders, huh?"

[wristspinnerets]

He lets out a relieved breath, letting go of the edge of his mask as it falls into place. "Me, new?" he quips, "If this is New York City, I'm feeling insulted. You've never heard of the friendly neighborhood Spider-man?"

[red_hood_rat]

"Not once," he says, not missing a beat. "And it is New York City."

Which, granted, isn't Jason's usual stomping ground. He's here to annoy the Dick, mostly. But he does keep his ear to the ground, and he's got a pretty good sense of NYC's regulars here. Spider-man? Rings no bells.

"Noticed you came out of nowhere," Jason comments. "Ordinarily I'd ask if you had a teleportation mistarget, but it seems like there's something weirder yet going on."

[wristspinnerets]

Spider-man shifts to a crouch and looks up (and up, this guy is tall) to get a good look at the man he's been speaking to. He can't hide the wince as his movements pull on his wounded back. But he doesn't bring it up, instead asking, "And what should I call you?"

He doesn't recognize this guy, though the tactical clothing, leather jacket, and modified motorcycle helmet do point toward someone who's not on this rooftop by accident. Big guy might be a thief after some important take, or he might be someone else on patrol against criminals. Jury's still out, so to speak, and Spider-man has learned not to make assumptions.

"I've had a weird couple days. Might be shaping up to be a weird week."

[red_hood_rat]

"I get that," Jason says. "Hell. I've had weird lives."

"Red Hood," he introduces himself. He provides no further context about himself, like an asshole.

[wristspinnerets]

"Well, Red Hood, I was hoping to get home. But I've been saving New York City from all kinds of crime for nearly two decades. If you don't recognize the name 'Spider-man', I'm thinking that I'm still in the wrong universe."

[red_hood_rat]

If Spider-man could see Jason's face under the helmet, he'd see Jason grimacing. As-is, his body language is still pretty clear.

"Ah, motherfucker," he swears. "I thought I was done with multiverse shit."

[wristspinnerets]

"I should've known better than to trust a wizard. Magic doesn't even exist in my universe."

Spider-man rises from his crouched position, to be more eye-to-eye (mask lens to mask lens, really) with the Red Hood. The four inches of height the larger man has on him mean they aren't exactly, but close enough. His own body language should make it clear that he's still in pain -- though Red Hood probably can't figure out why. The stab wound is on Spider-man's back, and the costume is red and dark blue... difficult to see blood stains through that.

"So you know about the multiverse, too? You're not a wizard, are you?"

[red_hood_rat]

"Definitely not," he says. "My adventure was courtesy of... if you're multiverse-hopping, does the name 'Monitors' ring any bells for you?"

"Also, do you need a medic assist or something? You keep wincing."

[wristspinnerets]

Peter takes time to clean up some -- scrubbing his face, and using a few wet washcloths to wipe up any lingering dried blood and give himself a 'sponge bath' to freshen up -- before going to bed. It's a daybed pushed against one wall of Donna's office -- not the most comfortable thing, but Peter is able to lie on his right side fairly comfortably and get some sleep.

He's up early the next morning, and checks his wound in the mirror to find it healed (or at least scarred over enough). There's a sewing kit sitting on the bookshelf in Donna's office, one of those small 'travel' sized things that can be bought at a drugstore. Donna is likely to find her house-guest bent over his costume, making repairs with a herringbone stitch (to accommodate the stretchiness of the fabric).

"Oh, hi," he greets her, before she has a chance to say anything, "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your thread. I'm used to costume damage and all, but I hate leaving it in rags if I can fix it."

[red_hood_rat]

"That's fine," Donna says, smiling politely as she approaches him. "My costume doesn't get damaged in the field as often, so I have thread to spare. How are you feeling?"

[wristspinnerets]

"I'm feeling all right," Peter replies. "The wound is scarred over now, and I slept enough last night."

He tests the stretch of the fabric carefully, pulling on it gently with his hands. Satisfied that the repair will hold, Peter puts the costume top back on, followed by the gloves. (The gloves are wrist length, with a Velcro strip attachment at the back of his hand, and it's easy for a gap between the sleeve and glove to happen on the other side, allowing his inner wrist and the silk-producing structure to be exposed.) He rubs his thumb against the back of each hand in turn, then asks Donna,

"Has anyone else showed up?"

[red_hood_rat]

"Wow, you heal really quickly," Donna comments.

She takes a seat across from Peter. "The Flash is still asleep, but hopefully he'll see my message soon. Traci 13 -- the magic user I'm consulting -- says she'll be here in an hour or so. Red Hood will probably show up sometime soon... he doesn't really call ahead." She worries her lip with her teeth, clearly debating saying something.

[wristspinnerets]

"I'm lucky that the quick healing was one of the powers I gained."

Peter nods along to the information that Donna gives him. When she pauses, Peter comments, "Red Hood was nearby when I... phased in? to this universe. Otherwise, as they say, I don't know him from Adam."

[red_hood_rat]

Donna gives a small little sigh. "I knew him when he was younger. I guess I was a lot younger, too. He was good kid, but... he went through some pretty terrible stuff, and he hasn't been the same ever since. He has a history of... conflicts with heroes, especially Batman and the ones affiliated with him. I think he's getting better at playing nice, but he has a different view on lethal force than a lot of us, and sometimes it seems like something sets him off out of nowhere. I think he really does want to help you, but I think you deserve a heads up, just in case."

[wristspinnerets]

Peter nods, expression placid. He's not here to take sides in this argument -- he hopes he won't be in this world for very much longer.

But he can't help saying, "I noticed 'never under any circumstances' came up last night, in the context of killing villains. I assume that's the usual stance?"

He won't bring up that he doesn't agree with that. Donna no doubt remembers that he said killing is a rare thing, not a 'never' thing. But if Red Hood is killing indiscriminately -- which Peter noticed Donna didn't say -- he wouldn't agree with that either. He understands that Donna is trying to give him information she deems pertinent, but he hopes it won't be.

[red_hood_rat]

"There's a little variation," Donna says. "Some of us allow it under very extreme circumstances, and some of us believe that it's never acceptable, no matter what. I personally think there's a few rare cases where it might be necessary, but Red Hood..." She pauses, at least trying to put it from the perspective that she thinks Jason would. "He says that some people need to be stopped because of the harm they're going to do in the future, even if they can be taken into custody without lethal force. We have some supervillains who've proven hard to contain, and one of them, the Joker, hurt him when he was younger. He fell out with Batman because he believes Batman should have killed the Joker after that."

[wristspinnerets]

It's much later... Troia, the Flash, Red Hood, and Spider-man have reconvened in Troia's apartment for now, as it was the one place that all four of them knew how to get back to.

The Flash looks disheveled, even despite the full cowl of his supersuit. Troia has an air of exhaustion about her -- to the point that even the starlight in her hair seems dimmed. Spider-man has stuck himself to the wall, fairly close to the ceiling, and his pose looks more like someone sprawled out on the floor. But his positioning is keeping him out of the way of everybody else.

[red_hood_rat]

"Well, uh... I'll start by saying that I'm pretty sure I've found your home universe," Flash tells Spider-man, not quite looking at the others.

Jason, for his part, is in his full Red Hood outfit, helmeted up and with his arms crossed. His body language is closed off and he looks less than thrilled to be here.

[wristspinnerets]

"That's good. And do we--" Spider-man stops. He takes a breath. "I'd be glad to go with you, Flash, to hash out any other information we need to make sure it's the right universe."

He 'sits up' from his position on the wall and looks between the other two in the apartment. "Red Hood, Troia... thank you for helping me find the right people to get me home. I think you two have done all you can... or at least all I'm willing to ask of you."

[red_hood_rat]

Donna's expression softens. "I'm glad we were able to help," she says. "Being trapped in a different universe is a terrible thing."

"Yeah," Jason says, voice flat. "Congratulations."

Flash eyes him a little cautiously before turning back to Spider-man. He clears his throat. "So, I'm going to be going with you for the trip, since it's easier for me to phase through universes," he says. "When we're there, we'll want to check a few basics, like the current date, familiar faces, and most importantly, the lack of a 'you' there currently, just to make sure we've got the right place. Um, since your universe's physics seem a bit different from ours, I've consulted with the Atom, and we've set up a way to keep a 'portal' open for a few minutes. That way, I can get back even if I can't access my speed from your universe."

[wristspinnerets]

There's a note of firmness in Spider-man's voice -- not command, but something that discourages argument -- as he says, "Then I guess the three of us ought to clear out of Troia's place."

He's not stupid, and he certainly hasn't forgotten how Troia and Red Hood keep sniping at each other and Troia had that loss of temper. He also figures that Red Hood is feeling pretty raw from the confrontation with the Joker -- Spider-man certainly feels shaken, just from the parallels with the Green Goblin.

So he's trying, with a gentle way to start, to give Red Hood an excuse get out. The man has already heard the plans to get Spider-man home, so that should satisfy any sense of responsibility Red Hood feels to see this through.

[red_hood_rat]

Jason grunts his assent, pushing off the wall towards the door. Donna smiles, extending a hand to Spider-man to shake. "It was good to meet you," she tells him. "Good luck, and safe travels home."

[wristspinnerets]

Spider-man clasps her hand and gives it a shake. "Thank you. I appreciate your help."

He drops from the wall and lands on his feet. If Red Hood looks back, Spider-man will give him a nod of acknowledgement, not wanting to delay the other man's escape.

[red_hood_rat]

Jason pauses for a moment, looking at Spider-man. He seems on the verge of saying something, but then just nods back.

"Good luck," he says, and leaves.

"Right." Flash holds a hand out to Spider-man. "Okay. Shall we?"