Spidey & Speedy - Gotham City Ghost

Chapter 12 - Crash Land, No Illusions

***PETER***

"He's not gonna be able to do that stupid poison trick on you again." Gwen lays her head on my shoulder as we watch over the Gotham waterfront from the roof of Grayson's building. "Don't worry, Peter," she says. "You're smarter than he is. You are."

"Thank you," I say. "So are you."

Gwen giggles into my ear, then straightens up and peers through her binoculars. "They're in position," she says - not so much to me, but to Felicity, who's piped into the camera feeds from her spy station in Grayson's apartment.

"Copy," says Felicity. "Still can't believe they're actually gonna talk to that fat-ass creep."

I raise my own set of binoculars so I can get a glimpse of what Gwen's seeing. Barry, Kara, and Grayson are on the sidewalk in front of the cannery, waiting for Penguin to emerge. In the background, illuminated by the sunset, Aquaman quietly slips into the water between the cannery and the next building so he can start his part of the mission. "Good luck, man," I whisper.

"You know I don't think any less of you for what happened, right?" Gwen asks.

"The more you tell me that," I say," the more I'm gonna dwell on it."

"Guys?" To our right, Oliver lowers his bow, allowing its attached arrow to touch the edge of the roof. "Not that your heart-to-heart isn't important, but it's wrecking my concentration."

"Yeah, mine too," says Thea over our earpieces. She's perched on the roof of the next building over, the one between this block and the cannery. Two layers of sniper-archers named Queen - that was my idea. Thea and Oliver both accepted said idea with surprising enthusiasm when I presented it.

"At least I'll be closer and I'll have better aim," Thea had said. "I dunno about you, Ollie, but there's this one guy in purple who works for the Avengers - you could take some tips from him!"

In response, Oliver tugged on Thea's red hood, looking like the playful big brother he was (and prompting all the current and former Robins to leave the room so they could laugh their asses off out of sight) and saying menacingly, "Speedy, you have failed this outfit!"

"I'm sorry," I say. "From now on, I'll stick to my usual motor-mouthed sarcasm."

"That, we can all enjoy," Gwen says with feeling.

"Tell us something we don't know," says Barry. He looks our way, and through the binoculars, I see him wink. Even after selecting himself some new, clean clothes in Wayne Tower's super-wardrobe, he's already returned to his Flash outfit. Kara is herself bedecked in full Supergirl gear, and Grayson is wearing, for the first time since we've met him, his Nightwing suit. It's mostly black, with a bright red, roughly chevron-shaped bird symbol (like the kind on his hoodies and T-shirts) emblazoned on the torso. All very skintight - I can't help but stare, if only for a second or five. And, to cap it all off, he's got his domino mask on, his hair falling in front of its wing-shaped sides.